Portal:India
Portal maintenance status: (June 2018)
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Introduction
India, officially the Republic of India (ISO: Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country from June 2023 and from the time of its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. 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 in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. (Full article...)
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The lion (Panthera leo) is a large cat of the genus Panthera, native to 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. It is a social species, forming groups called prides. A lion's pride consists of a few adult males, related females, and cubs. Groups of female lions usually hunt together, preying mostly on medium-sized and large ungulates. The lion is an apex and keystone predator; although some lions scavenge when opportunities occur and have been known to hunt humans, lions typically do not actively seek out and prey on humans.
The lion inhabits grasslands, savannahs, and shrublands. It is usually more diurnal than other wild cats, but when persecuted, it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. During the Neolithic period, the lion ranged throughout Africa and Eurasia, from Southeast Europe to India, but it has been reduced to fragmented populations in sub-Saharan Africa and one population in western India. It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 because populations in African countries have declined by about 43% since the early 1990s. Lion populations are untenable outside designated protected areas. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes for concern. (Full article...) -
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The political history of the region on the Deccan Plateau in west-central peninsular India (Map 1) that was later divided into Mysore state and Coorg province saw many changes after the fall of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire in 1565. The rise of Sultan Haidar Ali in 1761 introduced a new period.
At the height of the Vijayanagara Empire, the Mysore and Coorg region was ruled by diverse chieftains, or rajas ("little kings"). Each raja had the right to govern a small region, but also an obligation to supply soldiers and annual tribute for the empire's needs. After the empire's fall and the subsequent eastward move of the diminished ruling family, many chieftains tried to loosen their imperial bonds and expand their realms. Sensing opportunity amidst the new uncertainty, various powers from the north invaded the region. Among these were the Sultanate of Bijapur to the northwest, the Sultanate of Golconda to the northeast, the newly-formed Maratha empire farther northwest, and the major contemporary empire of India, the Mughal, which bounded all on the north. For much of the 17th century the tussles between the little kings and the big powers, and amongst the little kings, culminated in shifting sovereignties, loyalties, and borders. By the turn of the 18th century, the political landscape had become better defined: the northwestern hills were being ruled by the Nayaka rulers of Ikkeri, the southwestern—in the Western Ghats—by the Rajas of Coorg, the southern plains by the Wodeyar rulers of Mysore, all of which were Hindu dynasties; and the eastern and northeastern regions by the Muslim Nawabs of Arcot and Sira. Of these, Ikkeri and Coorg were independent, Mysore, although much-expanded, was formally a Mughal dependency, and Arcot and Sira, Mughal subahs (or provinces). (Full article...) -
Image 3Waiting is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Anu Menon. Produced by Priti Gupta and Manish Mundra under the banner of Ishka Films and Drishyam Films respectively, the film was co-written by Menon and James Ruzicka, and stars Naseeruddin Shah and Kalki Koechlin. Waiting focuses on the relationship between two people from different walks of life who befriend each other in a hospital, while nursing their respective comatose spouses. Rajat Kapoor, Suhasini Maniratnam, Arjun Mathur, Ratnabali Bhattacharjee and Rajeev Ravindranathan play supporting roles in the film.
The development of the film began in June 2014, when Menon signed Koechlin and Shah for an untitled project. Principal photography started in November 2014 in the South Indian coastal city of Kochi; Neha Parti served as the cinematographer for the film. New Zealand-based singer-songwriter Mikey McCleary composed the film's score. Nitin Baid and Apurva Asrani edited the film, and Atika Chohan wrote the dialogue. Waiting also marked the Hindi film debut of the prominent South Indian actress-director Suhasini Maniratnam. Koechlin also made her debut as a lyricist with the film's soundtrack, writing the song "Waiting for You". (Full article...) -
Image 4Mayabazar (transl. Market of illusions) is a 1957 Indian epic Hindu mythological film directed by K. V. Reddy. It was produced by Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani under their banner, Vijaya Productions. The film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil, with a few differences in the cast. The story is an adaptation of the folk tale Sasirekha Parinayam, which is based on the characters of the epic Mahabharata. It revolves around the roles of Krishna (N. T. Rama Rao) and Ghatotkacha (S. V. Ranga Rao), as they try to reunite Arjuna's son Abhimanyu (Telugu: Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Tamil: Gemini Ganesan) with his love, Balarama's daughter Sasirekha (Savitri). The Telugu version features Gummadi, Mukkamala, Ramana Reddy, and Relangi in supporting roles, with D. Balasubramaniam, R. Balasubramaniam, V. M. Ezhumalai, and K. A. Thangavelu playing those parts in the Tamil version.
The first mythological film produced by their studio, Mayabazar marked a milestone for Nagi Reddi and Chakrapani. In addition to the technical crew, 400 studio workers – including light men, carpenters, and painters – participated in the development of the film. Director Reddy was meticulous with the pre-production and casting phases, which took nearly a year to complete. Though Rama Rao was initially reluctant to play the lead role, his portrayal of Krishna received acclaim and yielded more offers to reprise the same role in several unrelated films. The soundtrack features twelve songs, with most of the musical score composed by Ghantasala. Telugu lyrics were written by Pingali Nagendrarao and Tamil lyrics were written by Thanjai N. Ramaiah Dass. One of those songs, Lahiri Lahiri, was accompanied by the first illusion of moonlight in Indian cinema, shot by cinematographer Marcus Bartley. (Full article...) -
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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 six 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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Ram Narayan (IPA: [raːm naːˈɾaːjəɳ]; born 25 December 1927), often referred to with the title Pandit, is an Indian musician who popularised the bowed instrument sarangi as a solo concert instrument in Hindustani classical music and became the first internationally successful sarangi player.
Narayan was born near Udaipur and learned to play the sarangi at an early age. He studied under sarangi players and singers and, as a teenager, worked as a music teacher and travelling musician. All India Radio, Lahore, hired Narayan as an accompanist for vocalists in 1944. He moved to Delhi following the partition of India in 1947, but wishing to go beyond accompaniment and frustrated with his supporting role, Narayan moved to Mumbai in 1949 to work in Indian cinema. (Full article...) -
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Margaret Alice Murray FSA Scot FRAI (13 July 1863 – 13 November 1963) was an Anglo-Indian Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, historian, and folklorist. The first woman to be appointed as a lecturer in archaeology in the United Kingdom, she worked at University College London (UCL) from 1898 to 1935. She served as president of the Folklore Society from 1953 to 1955, and published widely over the course of her career.
Born to a wealthy middle-class English family in Calcutta, British India, Murray divided her youth between India, Britain, and Germany, training as both a nurse and a social worker. Moving to London, in 1894 she began studying Egyptology at UCL, developing a friendship with department head Flinders Petrie, who encouraged her early academic publications and appointed her junior lecturer in 1898. In 1902–03, she took part in Petrie's excavations at Abydos, Egypt, there discovering the Osireion temple and the following season investigated the Saqqara cemetery, both of which established her reputation in Egyptology. Supplementing her UCL wage by giving public classes and lectures at the British Museum and Manchester Museum, it was at the latter in 1908 that she led the unwrapping of Khnum-nakht, one of the mummies recovered from the Tomb of two Brothers – the first time that a woman had publicly unwrapped a mummy. Recognising that British Egyptomania reflected the existence of a widespread public interest in Ancient Egypt, Murray wrote several books on Egyptology targeted at a general audience. (Full article...) -
Image 8Keechaka Vadham (transl. The Extermination of Keechaka) is an Indian silent film produced, directed, filmed and edited by R. Nataraja Mudaliar. The first film to have been made in South India, it was shot in five weeks at Nataraja Mudaliar's production house, India Film Company. As the members of the cast were Tamils, Keechaka Vadham is considered to be the first Tamil film. No print of it is known to have survived, making it a lost film.
The screenplay, written by C. Rangavadivelu, is based on an episode from the Virata Parva segment of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, focusing on Keechaka's attempts to woo Draupadi. The film stars Raju Mudaliar and Jeevarathnam as the central characters. (Full article...) -
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Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, and then as the Republic of Pakistan's first governor-general until his death.
Born at Wazir Mansion in Karachi, Jinnah was trained as a barrister at Lincoln's Inn in London, England. Upon his return to India, he enrolled at the Bombay High Court, and took an interest in national politics, which eventually replaced his legal practice. Jinnah rose to prominence in the Indian National Congress in the first two decades of the 20th century. In these early years of his political career, Jinnah advocated Hindu–Muslim unity, helping to shape the 1916 Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the All-India Muslim League, in which Jinnah had also become prominent. Jinnah became a key leader in the All-India Home Rule League, and proposed a fourteen-point constitutional reform plan to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. In 1920, however, Jinnah resigned from the Congress when it agreed to follow a campaign of satyagraha, which he regarded as political anarchy. (Full article...) -
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Vithoba (IAST: Viṭhobā), also known as Vitthala (IAST: Viṭṭhala), and Panduranga (IAST: Pāṇḍuraṅga), is a Hindu deity predominantly worshipped in the Indian state of Maharashtra and Karnataka. He is a form of the Hindu deity Vishnu in his avatar: Krishna. Vithoba is often depicted as a dark young boy, standing arms akimbo on a brick, sometimes accompanied by his consort Rakhumai.
Vithoba is the focus of an essentially monotheistic, non-ritualistic bhakti-driven Varkari faith in Maharashtra and the Haridasa sect established in Dvaita Vedanta in Karnataka. Vithoba Temple, Pandharpur is his main temple. Vithoba legends revolve around his devotee Pundalik who is credited for bringing the deity to Pandharpur, and around Vithoba's role as a saviour to the poet-saints of the Varkari faith. The Varkari poet-saints are known for their unique genre of devotional lyric, the abhang, dedicated to Vithoba and composed in Marathi. Other devotional literature dedicated to Vithoba includes the Kannada hymns of the Haridasa and the Marathi versions of the generic aarti songs associated with rituals of offering light to the deity. The most important festivals of Vithoba are held on Shayani Ekadashi in the month of Ashadha, and Prabodhini Ekadashi in the month of Kartika. (Full article...) -
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Darjeeling (/dɑːrˈdʒiːlɪŋ/, Bengali: [ˈdarˌdʒiliŋ], Nepali: [ˈdard͡ziliŋ]) 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 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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The Marwari or Malani is a rare breed of horse from the Marwar (or Jodhpur) region of Rajasthan, in north-west India. It is closely related to the Kathiawari breed of the Kathiawar peninsula of Gujarat, with which it shares an unusual inward-curving shape of the ears. It is found in all equine colours, including piebald and skewbald. It is a hardy riding horse; it may exhibit a natural ambling gait.
The Rathores, traditional rulers of the Marwar region of western India,were the first to breed the Marwari. Beginning in the 12th century, they espoused strict breeding that promoted purity and hardiness. Used throughout history as a cavalry horse by the people of the Marwar region, the Marwari was noted for its loyalty and bravery in battle. The breed deteriorated in the 1930s, when poor management practices resulted in a reduction of the breeding stock, but today has regained some of its popularity. The Marwari is used for light draught and agricultural work, as well as riding and packing. In 1995, a breed society was formed for the Marwari horse in India. The exportation of Marwari horses was banned for decades, but between 2000 and 2006, a small number of exports were allowed. Since 2008, visas allowing temporary travel of Marwari horses outside India have been available in small numbers. Though they are rare they are becoming more popular outside of India due to their unique looks. (Full article...) -
Image 13Sholay (Hindustani: [ˈʃoːleː] ⓘ, transl. Embers) is a 1975 Indian Hindi-language action-adventure film directed by Ramesh Sippy, produced by his father G. P. Sippy, and written by Salim–Javed. The film is about two criminals, Veeru (Dharmendra) and Jai (Amitabh Bachchan), hired by a retired police officer (Sanjeev Kumar) to capture the ruthless dacoit Gabbar Singh (Amjad Khan). Hema Malini and Jaya Bhaduri also star, as Veeru and Jai's love interests, Basanti and Radha, respectively. The music was composed by R D Burman.
The film was shot in the rocky terrain of Ramanagara, in the southern state of Karnataka, over a span of two and a half years. After the Central Board of Film Certification mandated the removal of several violent scenes, Sholay was released as a 198-minute long film. In 1990, the original director's cut of 204 minutes became available on home media. When first released, Sholay received negative critical reviews and a tepid commercial response, but favourable word-of-mouth publicity helped it to become a box office success. It broke records for continuous showings in many theatres across India, and ran for more than five years at Mumbai's Minerva theatre. The film was also an overseas success in the Soviet Union. It was the highest-grossing Indian film ever at the time, and was the highest-grossing film in India up until Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994). By numerous accounts, Sholay remains one of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time, adjusted for inflation. (Full article...) -
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In May 2003, a tropical cyclone officially called Very Severe Cyclonic Storm BOB 01 produced the worst flooding in Sri Lanka in 56 years. The first storm of the 2003 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, it developed over the Bay of Bengal on May 10. Favorable environmental conditions allowed the system to intensify steadily while moving northwestward. The storm reached peak maximum sustained winds of 140 km/h (85 mph) on May 13, making it a very severe cyclonic storm according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which is the official Regional Specialized Meteorological Center for the basin. The cyclone drifted north over the central Bay of Bengal, gradually weakening due to heightened wind shear. Turning eastward, the storm deteriorated to a deep depression on May 16 before it curved northeastward and re-intensified into a cyclonic storm. It came ashore in western Myanmar and dissipated over land the following day.
In the wake of prolonged precipitation during the first half of May, the cyclone produced torrential rains across southwest Sri Lanka while stationary in the central Bay of Bengal. The storm drew extensive moisture that coalesced in the mountainous portion of the island. A station at Ratnapura recorded 366.1 mm (14.41 in) of rainfall in 18 hours on May 17, including 99.8 mm (3.93 in) in one hour. In southwestern Sri Lanka, the rainfall caused flooding and landslides that destroyed 24,750 homes and damaged 32,426 others, displacing about 800,000 people. Overall damage totaled about $135 million (2003 USD), and there were 260 deaths. The cyclone also produced some rainfall in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India and along the country's eastern coast. The storm funneled moisture away from the mainland, which possibly contributed to a heat wave that killed 1,900 people, and dropped heavy rainfall in Myanmar. (Full article...) -
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Kareena Kapoor Khan (pronounced [kəˈriːna kəˈpuːr xɑːn]; née Kapoor; born 21 September 1980) is an Indian actress. A prolific leading lady of Hindi cinema since 2000, she is noted for her roles in a range of film genres—from romantic comedies to crime dramas. Kapoor is the recipient of several awards, including six Filmfare Awards, and as of 2024, is one of Hindi cinema's highest-paid actresses.
Born into the Kapoor family, she is the daughter of actors Babita and Randhir Kapoor, and the younger sister of actress Karisma Kapoor. After making her acting debut in 2000 in Refugee, Kapoor established herself the following year with several roles, including in the top-grossing drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.... This was followed by a series of commercial failures and negative reviews for her repetitive roles. An against-type performance as a sex worker in the 2004 drama Chameli marked a turning point in her career. She earned critical recognition for her portrayal of a riot victim in the 2004 drama Dev and a character based on Desdemona in the 2006 crime film Omkara. Her performance as a loquacious woman in the romantic comedy Jab We Met (2007) earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. (Full article...) -
Image 16Chandralekha (also spelt Chandraleka) is a 1948 Indian historical adventure film produced and directed by S. S. Vasan of Gemini Studios. Starring T. R. Rajakumari, M. K. Radha and Ranjan, the film follows two brothers (Veerasimhan and Sasankan) who fight over ruling their father's kingdom and marrying a village dancer, Chandralekha.
Development began during the early 1940s when, after two successive box-office hits, Vasan announced that his next film would be entitled Chandralekha. However, when he launched an advertising campaign for the film he only had the name of the heroine from a storyline he had rejected. Veppathur Kittoo (one of Vasan's storyboard artists) developed a story based on a chapter of George W. M. Reynolds' novel, Robert Macaire: or, The French bandit in England. Original director T. G. Raghavachari left the film more than halfway through because of disagreements with Vasan, who took over in his directorial debut. (Full article...) -
Image 17The 44th Chess Olympiad was an international team chess event organised by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Chennai, India, from 28 July to 10 August 2022. It consisted of Open and Women's tournaments, as well as several events to promote chess. The Olympiad was initially supposed to take place in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, the host of the Chess World Cup 2019, in August 2020, but it was later moved to Moscow. However, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then relocated to Chennai following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This was the first Chess Olympiad to take place in India.
The total number of participants was 1,737: 937 in the Open and 800 in the Women's event. The number of registered teams was 188 from 186 nations in the Open section and 162 from 160 nations in the Women's section; being the host nation, India had three teams participating in each section. Both sections set team participation records. The main venue of the Chess Olympiad was the convention centre at the Four Points by Sheraton, while the opening and closing ceremonies were held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. The Chief Arbiter of the event was France's Laurent Freyd. (Full article...) -
Image 18Lage Raho Munna Bhai (pronounced [ləˈɡeː rəˈɦoː mʊnːaːˈbʱaːi] ⓘ; translation: Keep Going, Munna Bro) is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language satirical comedy drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Abhijat Joshi, and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra under the banner Vinod Chopra Films. A sequel to Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. (2003), the film is the second installment of the Munna Bhai series. Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi reprised their roles as Munna Bhai and Circuit, respectively. New additions to the cast include Vidya Balan, Dilip Prabhavalkar and Dia Mirza, while several actors from the original, notably Jimmy Sheirgill and Boman Irani, appear in new roles.
In this film, the eponymous lead character, a don in the Mumbai underworld, begins to see visions of Mahatma Gandhi. Through his interactions with Gandhi, he begins to practice what he refers to as "Gandhigiri" (a neologism for "Gandhism") to help ordinary people solve their problems. (Full article...) -
Image 19Aitraaz (transl. Objection) is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language romantic thriller film directed by Abbas–Mustan and produced by Subhash Ghai. It stars Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor.
Aitraaz tells the story of a man accused of sexual harassment by his female superior, and was released on 12 November 2004 to positive reviews. Chopra received widespread critical acclaim for her performance. Loosely based on the 1994 film Disclosure, the film was a major commercial success grossing ₹260 million at the box office against a budget of ₹80 million, and has been noted for its bold subject of sexual harassment. (Full article...) -
Image 20Pather Panchali (pronounced [pɔtʰer pãtʃali] transl. Song of the Little Road) is a 1955 Indian Bengali-language drama film written and directed by Satyajit Ray in his directoral debut and produced by the Government of West Bengal. It is an adaptation of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay's 1929 Bengali novel of the same name and features Subir Banerjee, Kanu Banerjee, Karuna Banerjee, Uma Dasgupta, Pinaki Sengupta and Chunibala Devi in major roles. The first film in The Apu Trilogy, Pather Panchali depicts the childhood travails of the protagonist Apu and his elder sister Durga amidst the harsh village life of their poor family.
The film was shot mainly on location, had a limited budget, featured mostly amateur actors, and was made by an inexperienced crew. Lack of funds led to frequent interruptions in production, which took nearly three years, but the West Bengal government pulled Ray out of debt by buying the film for the equivalent of $60,000, which it turned into a profit of $700,000 by 1980. The sitar player Ravi Shankar composed the film's soundtrack and score using classical Indian ragas. Subrata Mitra was in charge of the cinematography while editing was handled by Dulal Dutta. Following its premiere on 3 May 1955 during an exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art, Pather Panchali was released in Calcutta the same year to an enthusiastic reception. A special screening was attended by the Chief Minister of West Bengal and the Prime Minister of India. (Full article...) -
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Kangna Amardeep Ranaut (pronounced [kəŋɡənaː raːɳoːʈʰ]; born 23 March 1986) is an Indian actress, filmmaker and politician serving as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Mandi since June 2024. Known for her portrayals of strong-willed, unconventional women in female-led Hindi films, she is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards and five Filmfare Awards, and has featured six times in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list. In 2020, the Government of India honoured her with the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian award.
At the age of sixteen, Ranaut briefly took up modelling before being trained under theatre director Arvind Gaur. She made her film debut in the 2006 thriller Gangster, for which she was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, and received praise for portraying emotionally intense characters in the dramas Woh Lamhe... (2006), Life in a... Metro (2007) and Fashion (2008). For the last of these, she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. She appeared in the commercially successful films Raaz: The Mystery Continues (2009) and Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010) but was criticised for being typecast in neurotic roles. A comic role in Tanu Weds Manu (2011) was well-received, though this was followed by a series of brief, glamorous roles in films that failed to propel her career forward. (Full article...) -
Image 22Loev (pronounced love) is a 2015 Indian romantic drama film written and directed by Sudhanshu Saria. It stars Dhruv Ganesh and Shiv Panditt as two friends who set off to the Western Ghats for a weekend trip and focuses on their complex emotional and sexual relationship. It was Ganesh's final film, as he died from tuberculosis before its release. Loev also features Siddharth Menon and Rishabh Chaddha in supporting roles. The film's title is a deliberate misspelling of the word "love".
Saria wrote Loev's script while he was working on the draft of the unreleased film I Am Here and drew heavily from his personal experiences. It was eventually picked up for production by Arfi Lamba and Katherine Suckale despite Saria's own doubts on its viability. Principal photography took place at Mahabaleshwar, in the Western Ghats in peninsular India, and at Mumbai. The film was shot in the summer of 2014 over the course of sixteen days by the cinematographer Sherri Kauk in 2K resolution. It relied on crowdfunding and cost-cutting measures; its budget was relatively low at US$1 million. (Full article...) -
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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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Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (born Leon Dudley Sorabji; 14 August 1892 – 15 October 1988) was an English composer, music critic, pianist and writer whose music, written over a period of seventy years, ranges from sets of miniatures to works lasting several hours. One of the most prolific 20th-century composers, he is best known for his piano pieces, notably nocturnes such as Gulistān and Villa Tasca, and large-scale, technically intricate compositions, which include seven symphonies for piano solo, four toccatas, Sequentia cyclica and 100 Transcendental Studies. He felt alienated from English society by reason of his homosexuality and mixed ancestry, and had a lifelong tendency to seclusion.
Sorabji was educated privately. His mother was English and his father a Parsi businessman and industrialist from India, who set up a trust fund that freed his family from the need to work. Although Sorabji was a reluctant performer and not a virtuoso, he played some of his music publicly between 1920 and 1936. In the late 1930s, his attitude shifted and he imposed restrictions on performance of his works, which he lifted in 1976. His compositions received little exposure in those years and he remained in public view mainly through his writings, which include the books Around Music and Mi contra fa: The Immoralisings of a Machiavellian Musician. During this time, he also left London and eventually settled in the village of Corfe Castle, Dorset. Information on Sorabji's life, especially his later years, is scarce, with most of it coming from the letters he exchanged with his friends. (Full article...) -
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India, officially the Republic of India (ISO: Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country from June 2023 and from the time of its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. 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 in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia.
Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago.
Their long occupation, initially in varying forms of isolation as hunter-gatherers, has made the region highly diverse, second only to Africa in human genetic diversity. Settled life emerged on the subcontinent in the western margins of the Indus river basin 9,000 years ago, evolving gradually into the Indus Valley Civilisation of the third millennium BCE.
By 1200 BCE, an archaic form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, had diffused into India from the northwest. Its evidence today is found in the hymns of the Rigveda. Preserved by an oral tradition that was resolutely vigilant, the Rigveda records the dawning of Hinduism in India. The Dravidian languages of India were supplanted in the northern and western regions. By 400 BCE, stratification and exclusion by caste had emerged within Hinduism, and Buddhism and Jainism had arisen, proclaiming social orders unlinked to heredity.
Early political consolidations gave rise to the loose-knit Maurya and Gupta Empires based in the Ganges Basin.
Their collective era was suffused with wide-ranging creativity, but also marked by the declining status of women, and the incorporation of untouchability into an organised system of belief. In South India, the Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian-languages scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms of Southeast Asia. (Full article...)
Selected pictures
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Image 1Photograph credit: Jeevan JoseLeptosia nina, known as the psyche, is a species of butterfly in the family Pieridae (the sulphurs, yellows and whites), found in the Indian subcontinent, southeastern Asia, and Australia. It has a small wingspan of 2.5 to 5 cm (1 to 2 in). The upper side of the otherwise white forewing has a large, somewhat pear-shaped, black spot; this spot is also present on the underside which is scattered with greenish dots and speckles, sometimes arranged in bands. This L. nina butterfly was photographed in Kerala, India.
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Image 2Photo credit: Luc ViatourA fire breather in the "Jaipur Maharaja Brass Band" of India. Fire breathing, which is said to have originated in India, is the act of creating a large flame by spraying, with one's mouth, a flammable liquid upon an open flame. A number of legendary creatures are said to possess innate capabilities for fire breathing, most notably dragons.
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Image 3Photograph: JJ HarrisonThe Siberian rubythroat (Luscinia calliope) is a small passerine bird generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher of the family Muscicapidae. This migratory insectivorous species breeds in mixed coniferous forest with undergrowth in Siberia, where it nests near the ground. It winters in Thailand, India and Indonesia. It is an extremely rare vagrant to Western Europe and the Aleutian Islands.
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Image 4Photograph credit: Charles James SharpThe pied bush chat (Saxicola caprata) is a small passerine bird widely distributed in Asia. The males are black with white shoulder and vent patches, while the females are predominantly brownish. This species is insectivorous, and like other chats hunts from a prominent low perch. This female pied bush chat was photographed in Pench National Park, India.
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Image 5Papilio demoleus matingPhotograph: JkadavoorA mating pair of Papilio demoleus, a common and widespread Swallowtail butterfly, photographed at Kadavoor, Kerala, India. After successful mating the female goes from plant to plant, laying a single egg at a time on top of a leaf, and flies off as soon as the egg is laid.
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Image 6Photograph: Muhammad Mahdi KarimMysore Palace, the official residence and seat of the Wodeyars — the rulers of the Kingdom of Mysore. Located in southern India, the kingdom is traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 as a vassal state to the Vijayanagara Empire before becoming independent in the 16th century.
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Image 7The mosque at the Taj Mahal complex in Agra, India. This red sandstone building, on the western side of the complex, faces the west side of the mausoleum. In the forefront is a howz, meant for ablution. On the eastern side of the complex is the jawab ("answer"), a mirror image of the mosque except for the missing mihrab and different floor pattern; this jawab was mainly intended for architectural balance. Both were constructed in 1643.
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Image 8Photograph credit: Charles James SharpDanaus genutia, the common tiger or striped tiger, is a species of brush-footed butterfly found in Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, south-eastern Asia and Australia. It prefers areas of moderate to heavy rainfall, and typical habitats include scrubby jungle, deciduous forests and fallow land near habitations. The insect sequesters toxins from plants, and advertises its unpalatability by having prominent markings and striking colour patterns. This adult male common tiger, of the subspecies D. g. genutia, was photographed in Kerala, India.
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Image 9Photograph credit: Muhammad Mahdi KarimThe Dharmaraya Swamy Temple is one of the oldest temples in Bangalore, India. It is thought to be more than 800 years old and is built in the Dravidian style, with a gopuram, an ornate monumental entrance tower. Gods worshipped here include Dharmaraya, Krishna, Arjuna, Draupadi and Bhima.
The Karaga festival starts from the temple each year; the festival is dedicated to Draupadi, the most important female character in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. Starting at midnight, a priest dressed as a woman carries an earthen pot filled with water and adorned with decorations several feet high on his head in procession through the town, preceded by hundreds of bare-chested, dhoti-clad, turbaned Veerakumaras bearing unsheathed swords. -
Image 10Photo: K Hari KrishnanUnripe drupes of black pepper (Piper nigrum) at Trivandrum, Kerala, India. The drupes are cooked briefly in hot water. The heat ruptures cell walls in the pepper, speeding the work of browning enzymes during drying. The drupes are dried for several days, during which the pepper around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, wrinkled black layer. Once dried, the spice is called black peppercorn.
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Image 11Photograph: Augustus BinuChandiroor Divakaran (b. 1946) is a Malayalam–language poet and folk song writer from Kerala, India. He has published numerous collections of poetry since his debut collection, Radha, in 1965.
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Image 12Al-Ameen College of PharmacyPhoto: Muhammad Mahdi KarimAl-Ameen College of Pharmacy is a pharmacy college in Bangalore, India. Established in 1983, it is under the purview of the Al-Ameen Educational Society.
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Image 13Photograph credit: Augustus BinuK. T. Thomas (born 30 January 1937) is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India, known for his strong opinions on Indian socio-political matters. He was selected as a district and sessions judge in 1977, and became a judge of the Kerala High Court in 1985. A decade later, he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court, on which he served until retiring in 2002. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan by the Indian government in 2007 for services in the field of social affairs.
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Image 14Photograph: JkadavoorCupha erymanthis is a species of brush-footed butterfly found in forested areas of tropical South and Southeast Asia which may feed on liquids from carrion. This specimen was photographed in Kadavoor, Kerala, India.
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Image 15Photo credit: PeripitusThe national flower of India, Nelumbo nucifera is known by a number of common names, including Indian lotus, sacred lotus, bean of India, and sacred water-lily. This plant is an aquatic perennial, though under favorable conditions its seeds may remain viable for many years.
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Image 1The Pampa Award (or Pampa Prashasti) is a literary award in the Indian state of Karnataka. The award was established in 1987 by the government of Karnataka. It is the highest literary honor conferred by the Department of Kannada and Culture, Government of Karnataka State, and recognises works written in the Kannada language (1 of the 22 official languages of India).
The award is named after the first Kannada poet Adikavi Pampa. The award originally comprised a cash prize of ₹1 lakh (US$1,200), a shawl, a citation and a memento. The cash prize was increased to ₹3 lakh (US$3,600) in 2008. Prior to 1996, the awards were given for a best single work by a Kannada writer. Since then, the award has been given to writers for their lifetime contribution to the Kannada literature. The Pampa Prashasti is presented by the Chief Minister, during the Kadambotsava, a cultural festival held annually in Pampa's hometown of Banavasi in Uttara Kannada district. (Full article...) -
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Sanjay Dutt is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi films as well as a few Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, and Punjabi films. He made his acting debut in 1981, opposite Tina Ambani, in his father Sunil Dutt's romantic action film Rocky (1981). Rocky was ranked at tenth highest-grossing Bollywood films of 1981. After appearing in a series of box office flops, he starred in Mahesh Bhatt's crime thriller film Naam (1986). Dutt received critical acclaim for his performance, and it became a turning point in his career.
In 1991, Dutt appeared in Lawrence D'Souza's Indian romantic drama film Saajan (1991), starring alongside Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan. For his performance, Dutt was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. He was nominated again for the same award for his performance in Khalnayak (1993). Dutt won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor—for portraying a young man who later becomes a gangster in Vaastav: The Reality (1999). He also received critical acclaim for his performance. Dutt next appeared in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's crime thriller film Mission Kashmir (2000). For his performance, Dutt was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. (Full article...) -
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The Green Park Stadium—formerly known as Modi Stadium—is a cricket ground in Kanpur, India. It is the home ground of the Uttar Pradesh cricket team and has played host to Ranji Trophy matches, as well as being a Test and One Day International (ODI) venue. The ground has hosted 23 Test matches, since the first one in 1952 when India played England. It has also staged 15 ODIs, the first of which was in 1986 when India lost to Sri Lanka by a margin of 17 runs. It has staged 1 T20 International in 2017.
The first century at the ground was scored by the West Indian Garfield Sobers. He made 198 during the second Test of the 1958–59 West Indies tour of India. The first Indian to score a century at the ground was Polly Umrigar, who made 147 not out against England in December 1961. West Indian Faoud Bacchus' 250, against India in February 1979, is the highest individual score by a batsman at the ground. India's Gundappa Viswanath and Mohammed Azharuddin have scored the most centuries at the venue with three each. The latter also holds the record for the highest score by an Indian at the ground. As of February 2016, 32 Test centuries have been scored at the stadium. (Full article...) -
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Nani is an Indian actor, film producer and television presenter who works predominantly in Telugu films and appears in a few Tamil films. Naveen Babu Ganta (Nani's Birth name) made his acting debut with Mohana Krishna Indraganti's 2008 comedy film Ashta Chamma, an Indian adaptation of Oscar Wilde's play The Importance of Being Earnest. After Ashta Chamma's commercial success, Nani played the lead roles in three Telugu films in the next two years: Ride (2009), Snehituda (2009) and Bheemili Kabaddi Jattu (2010). In 2011, Nani collaborated with B. V. Nandini Reddy on the romantic comedy film Ala Modalaindi which was profitable. The same year, he made his Tamil cinema debut with Anjana Ali Khan's Veppam, a crime drama set in the backdrop of North Chennai. The following year, Nani collaborated with S. S. Rajamouli and Gautham Vasudev Menon on the Telugu-Tamil bilingual Eega and the romance film Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu respectively. The former, which was about a murdered man reincarnating as a housefly and avenging his death, earned Nani an award in the Best Hero category at the 2013 Toronto After Dark Film Festival. He received the Nandi Award for Best Actor for his performance in Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu.
Nani ventured into film production in 2013 as a co-producer for the film D for Dopidi. He faced three box office failures in the upcoming years: Paisa (2013), Aaha Kalyanam (2014) and Janda Pai Kapiraju (2015). Nani termed it a "low phase" in his career and worked on the "planning of films and the timing of their release". He then played the lead role in Nag Ashwin's Yevade Subramanyam (2015), a film focusing on a businessperson's journey to the Himalayas seeking self exploration. Nani later starred in Maruthi's comedy film Bhale Bhale Magadivoy (2015), in which he played an absent minded scientist easily prone to distraction. It was the actor's first blockbuster success, and earned him the Critics Award for Best Actor – South at the 63rd Filmfare Awards South ceremony. With his subsequent releases, the profitable ventures Krishna Gaadi Veera Prema Gaadha (2016) and Gentleman (2016), he gained stardom in Telugu cinema. Nani later played the lead in the commercially successful Telugu films Majnu (2016), Nenu Local (2017), Middle Class Abbayi (2017), and Ninnu Kori (2017). In 2018, Nani featured as the host of the second season of the Telugu game show Bigg Boss. (Full article...) -
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Irrfan Khan (7 January 1967– 29 April 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Indian and British-American films. His on-screen debut was a minor role in Mira Nair's Salaam Bombay! in 1988. He followed this with appearances in a variety of television shows in the late 1980s to 1990s including playing ʽAbd al-Qadir Badayuni in Bharat Ek Khoj (1988), Makhdoom Mohiuddin in Kahkashan (1991), Vladimir Lenin in Lal Ghas Per Neele Ghodey (1992), a dual role in Chandrakanta (1994), and Valmiki in Jai Hanuman (1997). Khan found his television work unfulfilling and considered quitting acting.
His career experienced a turnaround with his breakthrough role as the lead in Asif Kapadia's The Warrior (2001), which won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film. He followed this with critically acclaimed villainous roles in Haasil and Maqbool (both in 2003). For the former performance, where he played a devious politician, Khan received the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. In 2006, Khan portrayed a first-generation Bengali immigrant in the Nair-directed film The Namesake with Tabu and a hitman in The Killer. The following year, he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a 38-year-old man waiting to marry the right woman in Life in a... Metro, directed by Anurag Basu. In 2008, he received international recognition for his role as a police inspector in Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. (Full article...) -
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Vijay is an Indian actor, playback singer and politician who works in Tamil cinema. He made his cinematic debut in 1984 with Vetri, directed by his father, Chandrasekhar. After appearing in Chandrasekhar's films as a child artist, Vijay made his debut as a lead actor with Naalaiya Theerpu (1992) at the age of 18. He followed it with a role opposite Vijayakanth in Senthoorapandi (1993). Vijay went on to play lead roles in his father's directorial ventures such as Rasigan (1994) and Deva (1995). Most of those films were successful commercially.
Vijay's first commercial blockbuster was romcom Coimbatore Mappillai in 1996, followed by his breakthrough blockbuster romance film, Poove Unakkaga. His subsequent films, Love Today (1997) and Kadhalukku Mariyadhai (1997), were critically and commercially successful. His performance in the latter won him the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. Thulladha Manamum Thullum (1999), where he played a passionate singer gained him the reputation of a romantic hero. (Full article...) -
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Bipasha Basu is an Indian actress who has featured in over 50 films, predominantly in Hindi language. After a successful career as a model, she made her film debut with a supporting role in Abbas–Mustan's thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu followed this with a role in her first Telugu cinema—the action film Takkari Donga (2002). She had her first major success with the supernatural thriller Raaz (2002), which earned Basu her first Filmfare Award for Best Actress nomination. The following year, she starred opposite John Abraham in the erotic thriller Jism, in which she played a seductive wife. She received a Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role nomination for the film. Her roles in these films established her as a sex symbol.
Basu followed this initial success with roles in a series of commercial failures, including the thrillers Aetbaar, Rudraksh, Rakht—all in 2004—and the romance Barsaat (2005). She later featured in Prakash Jha's crime drama Apaharan (2005) and the ensemble comedy No Entry (2005). The latter emerged as a financial success, grossing ₹750 million (US$9.0 million) at the box office, and Basu's role of an escort earned her a nomination for the Best Supporting Actress at the 51st Filmfare Awards. Basu had seven film releases in 2006. Her role as an executive at a conglomerate in Madhur Bhandarkar's drama Corporate earned her another nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. She then portrayed a character based on Bianca in Vishal Bhardwaj's Omkara, an adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy Othello. In Sanjay Gadhvi's action film Dhoom 2—her final release of the year—she played dual roles; it was the top-grossing Bollywood film of the year. In 2008, she collaborated with Abbas–Mustan for the second time for Race. Her performance as a troubled wife in Rituparno Ghosh's 2009 Bengali film Shob Charitro Kalponik was critically acclaimed. She then featured in the third installment of the Raaz series, entitled Raaz 3D (2012). Due to her frequent associations with horror films, she was labelled India's "horror queen" by the media. (Full article...) -
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The chief minister of Chhattisgarh is the chief executive of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the legislative assembly, the state's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.
Four people have served as the state's chief minister since Chhattisgarh's formation on 1 November 2000 as a result of the Madhya Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000. The first was Ajit Jogi of the Indian National Congress. He was succeeded in 2003 by Raman Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who served three consecutive five-year terms. The third person to serve in the office was Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel ,who served from 2018 to 2023. He was succeeded by Vishnu Deo Sai of the BJP, the current incumbent. (Full article...) -
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Indian actor Aamir Khan first appeared on screen at the age of eight in a minor role in his uncle Nasir Hussain's film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973). In 1983, he acted in and worked as an assistant director on Paranoia, a short film directed by Aditya Bhattacharya, following which he assisted Hussain on two of his directorial ventures—Manzil Manzil (1984) and Zabardast (1985). As an adult, Khan's first acting project was a brief role in the 1984 experimental social drama Holi.
Khan's first leading role came opposite Juhi Chawla in the highly successful tragic romance Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988). His performance in the film and in the thriller Raakh (1989) earned him a National Film Award – Special Mention. He went on to establish himself with roles in several lucrative films of the 1990s, including the romantic drama Dil (1990), the comedy-drama Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993), and the romance Raja Hindustani (1996). He also played against type in the Deepa Mehta-directed Canadian-Indian co-production Earth (1998). In 1999, Khan launched a production company, Aamir Khan Productions, whose first release Lagaan (2001) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and earned him the National Film Award for Best Popular Film. Also in 2001, he starred alongside Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna in the acclaimed coming-of-age drama Dil Chahta Hai. Lagaan and Dil Chahta Hai are cited in the media as defining films of Hindi cinema. After a three-year hiatus, Khan portrayed the eponymous lead in Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), a period film that underperformed at the box office, after which he played leading roles in two top-grossing films of 2006—Fanaa and Rang De Basanti. (Full article...) -
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The Kerala State Film Award for Best Director is an honour presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India since 1969. It is given to a film director who has exhibited outstanding direction while working in the Malayalam film industry. Until 1997, the awards were managed directly by the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Kerala. Since 1998, the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, an autonomous non-profit organisation functioning under the Department of Cultural Affairs, has been exercising control over the awards. The recipients are decided by an independent jury formed by the academy. They are declared by the Minister for Cultural Affairs and are presented by the Chief Minister.
The first Kerala State Film Awards ceremony was held in 1970 with cinematographer-director A. Vincent receiving the Best Director award for his work in Nadhi (1969). Throughout the years, accounting for ties and repeat winners, the Government of Kerala has presented a total of 50 best director awards to 25 different filmmakers. The recipients receive a figurine, a certificate, and a cash prize of ₹2 lakh (US$2,400). (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 name of a recipient, whose award has been revoked or restored, both of which require the authority of the President, is archived and they are required to surrender their medal when their name is struck from the register. As of 2019[update], none of the conferments of Padma Bhushan during the 2010s 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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Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian actor, playback singer, film producer, television host and former politician who primarily works in Hindi films. He made his acting debut in 1969 with Saat Hindustani, and narrated Mrinal Sen's Bhuvan Shome (1969). He later appeared as Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Anand (1971), for which he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 1973, Bachchan played his breakthrough role of Inspector Vijay Khanna in Prakash Mehra's action film Zanjeer. He has since appeared in several films with the character name "Vijay". During the same year, he appeared in Abhimaan and Namak Haraam. For the latter, he received the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He starred along with Shashi Kapoor in Yash Chopra's Deewaar, which earned him widespread critical acclaim and popularity, made him won Filmfare Award for Best Actor nomination. He was cited as the "angry young man" for his roles in Deewaar and Zanjeer. Later he starred in Ramesh Sippy's Sholay (1975), which is considered to be one of the greatest Indian films of all time. After appearing in the romantic drama Kabhie Kabhie (1976), Bachchan starred in Manmohan Desai's highest grosser action-comedy Amar Akbar Anthony (1977). He again won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance in the latter. He then played dual roles of Don and Vijay in Don (1978), which again earned him the Filmfare Best Actor Award for the consecutive year. All of them were huge blockbusters of it's time.
Bachchan's stardom continued to roar in the early 1980s, and his critically and commercially successful ventures in this period include Dostana (1980), Shaan (1980), Ram Balram (1980), Naseeb (1981), Lawaaris (1981), Kaalia (1981), Yaarana (1981), Satte Pe Satta (1982), Namak Halaal (1982), Khud-Daar (1982), Andha Kanoon (1983) and Coolie (1983). His performances in these films in Dostana and Shakti earned him the nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. He suffered a near-fatal injury while shooting for Coolie. His workload decreased for the upcoming four years (1984–1987), but he found critical and commercial success in Sharaabi (1984), Geraftaar (1985) and Mard (1985). He returned to the screen with the box-office success Shahenshah (1988). A year later, Bachchan played the role of gangster Vijay Deenanath Chauhan in Mukul S. Anand's Agneepath (1990) earned him the National Film Award for Best Actor and later starred in Hum (1991), which was a commercial success. Despite being a box-office failure, the former garnered him the National Film Award for Best Actor and has since developed a cult status. He also earned the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for Hum, following which he took another break from acting. He then played Badshah Khan in Anand's 1992 drama Khuda Gawah, for which he received a civilian award from the President of Afghanistan. Khuda Gawah, released on 8 May 1992, was also a critical and commercial success, and Bachchan's performance was well received both domestically and internationally. In 1996, he started his film production company Amitabh Bachchan Corporation whose first release Tere Mere Sapne (1996) was a box-office hit. Amitabh Bachchan is also known as the "Shahenshah" or "Big B" of Bollywood. (Full article...) -
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Hindi film actress Rani Mukerji made her screen debut in Biyer Phool (1996), a Bengali film directed by her father Ram Mukherjee. Her first leading role was that of a rape victim in the 1996 social drama Raja Ki Aayegi Baaraat. In 1998 she received wider recognition for her role alongside Aamir Khan in the action film Ghulam, and had her breakthrough as the romantic interest of Shah Rukh Khan's character in the romantic drama Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. The latter earned Mukerji her first Filmfare Award in the Best Supporting Actress category. She followed this by playing the leading lady in several films, including Hello Brother (1999) and Nayak: The Real Hero (2001), none of which helped propel her career forward.
Mukerji's career prospects improved in 2002 when she starred in Yash Raj Films' Saathiya, a romantic drama that gained her a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress. For her roles in the 2004 romantic comedy Hum Tum and the composite drama Yuva, Mukerji became the only actress to win both the Filmfare Award for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, in the same year. Also that year, she starred in Veer-Zaara—the highest-grossing Bollywood film of the year. In 2005, she received praise for portraying a blind, deaf and mute woman in the drama Black, and played a con woman in the crime comedy film Bunty Aur Babli. For her performance in Black, she was awarded the Best Actress and Best Actress (Critics) trophies at Filmfare. The following year, she played an unhappily married woman in the drama Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna — the top-grossing Bollywood film in overseas at that point. (Full article...) -
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Tamannaah Bhatia is an Indian actress known for her work in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi cinema. She debuted as a leading lady in the Hindi film Chand Sa Roshan Chehra in 2005. That same year marked her Telugu debut with Sree, followed by her Tamil debut in Kedi the subsequent year. She experienced a breakthrough in her career with the success of Happy Days and Kalloori in 2007, portraying college students in both films. Her journey continued with box-office hits like Ayan, 100% Love, Siruthai, Tadakha, Oosaravelli, Racha and Veeram as well as setbacks such as Ananda Thandavam, Endukante Premanta, Himmatwala, Humshakals and Aagadu. Additionally, while she received critical acclaim and several accolades for her role in 100% Love, her performances in Himmatwala and Humshakals faced criticism.
In 2015, Bhatia received praised for her role in Baahubali: The Beginning, which earned over ₹600 crore. She was praised for her performances in Oopiri and Dharma Durai, and her double role in Devi was well received. However, Vasuvum Saravananum Onna Padichavanga, Bengal Tiger and Kaththi Sandai were less successful. In 2017, she reprised her role in Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, which grossed over ₹1700 crore worldwide, while Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan was a box office failure. In 2018, Sketch received mixed reviews, but her performance was praised, while Naa Nuvve and Next Enti? were poorly received. In 2019, she starred in the blockbuster F2: Fun and Frustration and delivered notable performances in Kanne Kalaimaane, Devi 2, Khamoshi, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy and Petromax. (Full article...) -
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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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Priyanka Chopra is an Indian actress who has received several awards and nominations including two National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards, eight Producers Guild Film Awards, eight Screen Awards, six IIFA Awards, and two People's Choice Awards. In 2000, she participated in the Femina Miss India contest, where she finished second, winning the Femina Miss India World title. She then entered the Miss World pageant and was crowned Miss World 2000, becoming the fifth Indian to win the contest. Chopra made her Bollywood film debut with a supporting role in the 2003 spy thriller The Hero, which earned her the Stardust Award for Best Supporting Actress. The same year, her performance in the romantic musical Andaaz won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut and a nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the same ceremony. For her portrayal of a seductress in the romantic thriller Aitraaz, Chopra won the Filmfare Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role and received her second nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The same year, she was nominated for the IIFA Award for Best Actress for the romantic comedy Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
Chopra starred as a troubled model in the drama Fashion (2008), for which she won many Best Actress awards in India including the National Film Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Award in the same category. In 2010, she received several Best Actress nominations for playing a feisty Marathi woman in the caper thriller Kaminey, winning her second consecutive Producers Guild Film Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role after Fashion. The same year, she was nominated for the Screen Award for Best Actress for playing twelve distinct roles in the social comedy film What's Your Raashee?. For her portrayal of a serial killer, in the 2011 neo-noir 7 Khoon Maaf, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Critics), in addition to a Best Actress nomination at the same ceremony. (Full article...) -
Image 17The prime minister of India is the chief executive of the Government of India and chair of the Union Council of Ministers. Although the president of India is the constitutional, nominal, and ceremonial head of state, in practice and ordinarily, the executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers. The prime minister is the leader elected by the party with a majority in the lower house of the Indian parliament, the Lok Sabha, which is the main legislative body in the Republic of India. The prime minister and their cabinet are at all times responsible to the Lok Sabha. The prime minister can be a member of the Lok Sabha or of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament. The prime minister ranks third in the order of precedence.
The prime minister is appointed by the president of India; however, the prime minister has to enjoy the confidence of the majority of Lok Sabha members, who are directly elected every five years, unless a prime minister resigns. The prime minister is the presiding member of the Council of Ministers of the Union government. The prime minister unilaterally controls the selection and dismissal of members of the council; and allocation of posts to members within the government. This council, which is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha as per Article 75(3), assists the president regarding the operations under the latter's powers; however, by the virtue of Article 74 of the Constitution, such 'aid and advice' tendered by the council is binding. (Full article...) -
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M. A. Chidambaram Stadium (MAC), also known as the Chepauk Stadium or simply Chepauk due its location in the city's locality of Chepauk, is a sports ground in Chennai, India that has hosted international cricket matches along with provincial games. Named after M. A. Chidambaram, former President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the venue was formerly known as the Madras Cricket Club ground. It has a capacity of 38,000 spectators for international matches. It is the home ground of the Tamil Nadu cricket team and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. The first Test at this venue took place in 1934, between India and England. As of February 2021, it has hosted a further 33 Test matches. Chepauk has also staged 22 One Day International (ODI) matches, the first of which was in 1987 when Australia defeated India in a group-match during the 1987 World Cup.
In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five-for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement. The first bowler to take a five-wicket haul in a Test match at Chepauk was Amar Singh for India against England in 1934; he finished the innings with bowling figures of 7 wickets for 86 runs. Australia's Ashley Mallett became the first to take two five-wicket hauls in the same match at Chepauk, when he took 5 for 91 and 5 for 53 in the second and fourth innings of the fifth Test of Australia's 1969–70 tour of India. Narendra Hirwani is the most recent cricketer and the first Indian to take two five-wicket hauls on debut. He took 8 for 61 and 8 for 75 against the West Indies during the fourth Test of the 1987–88 series between the teams, which was held at this ground, and finished the match with bowling figures of 16 for 136. These are also the best match-figures by any bowler on Test debut. The best figures in Test cricket at Chepauk are 8 for 55, taken by India's Vinoo Mankad against England in 1952. Axar Patel took the most recent five-wicket haul at Chepauk, with figures of 5 for 60 against England in their 2020–21 tour of India. As of February 2021, 32 bowlers have taken 51 Test match five-wicket hauls at this ground. (Full article...) -
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Sachin Tendulkar is a retired Indian cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, he is the most prolific run-scorer in international cricket. Tendulkar has scored the highest number of centuries (100 or more runs) in Test matches and One Day International (ODI) matches organised by the International Cricket Council. His total of 51 centuries in Test matches is a world record for highest number of centuries by a batsman and his 49 centuries in ODI matches are the second highest number of centuries after Virat Kohli. He became the first and only cricketer to score 100 international centuries when he made 114 against Bangladesh in March 2012.
After making his Test debut in 1989, Tendulkar achieved his first century against England at Old Trafford, Manchester in 1990; he made 119 not out. In Test matches, Tendulkar has scored centuries against all the Test cricket playing nations, and is the second batsman to score 150 against each of them. He has scored a century in at least one cricket ground of all Test cricket playing nations, except Zimbabwe. In October 2010, Tendulkar went past Brian Lara's record of 19 scores of 150 or more by hitting his 20th against Australia in Bangalore. He made his highest score in 2004, when he made 248 not out against Bangladesh at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka. Tendulkar has scored six double centuries and remained unbeaten on 15 occasions. His centuries have come in 30 different cricket grounds, with 27 of them being scored in venues outside India. Tendulkar has been dismissed nine times between scores of 90 and 99. (Full article...) -
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In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") refers to a bowler taking five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded as a notable achievement, and fewer than 40 bowlers have taken more than 15 five-wicket hauls at international level in their cricketing careers.
Anil Kumble is a former Test and One Day International (ODI) cricketer who represented India. He is a right-arm leg spin (legbreak googly) bowler. Kumble has taken 619 wickets in Test cricket and 337 wickets in ODI cricket. With 37 five-wicket hauls, Kumble has the highest number of Test and combined international five-wicket hauls among Indian cricketers and fourth highest among all players, after Muttiah Muralitharan, Richard Hadlee, and Shane Warne.
Kumble made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka and his Test debut against England, both in 1990. His first five-wicket haul was against South Africa at Johannesburg (November, 1992) in the second Test of India's tour. He has claimed the most of his five-wicket hauls against Australia, ten of them, all in Test matches. His best performance was against Pakistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla in 1999; Kumble took all ten wickets during the second innings, just the second person to do so, after Jim Laker, and in the process ensured India of their first Test victory against Pakistan in twenty years. The feat also ranks as the second best bowling figures in Test history. Twenty of Kumble's Test cricket five-wicket hauls have come in victory for India, while five have been in defeats. Kumble has also taken two five-wicket hauls in ODIs. His first ODI five-wicket haul was against the West Indies during the final of the 1993 Hero Cup at Eden Gardens, Calcutta when he took six wickets for twelve runs, a record for India in One Day Internationals. The performance ensured India's victory and Kumble was adjudged man of the match. His other ODI five-wicket haul was against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in 1994. (Full article...) -
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Ranbir Kapoor is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He worked as an assistant director on the films Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999) and Black (2005), before making his acting debut opposite Sonam Kapoor 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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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$4.2 million), Kaminey released on 14 August 2009 to critical acclaim and was a commercial success, grossing over ₹710 million (US$8.5 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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The National Film Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (known as National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress prior to 69th NFA) 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 ten languages: Hindi (19 awards), Malayalam (7 awards), Bengali (4 awards), Tamil (4 awards), English (2 awards), Meitei (1 award), Marathi (1 award), Urdu (1 award), Haryanvi (1 award), Odia (1 award). (Full article...) -
Image 24Lagaan (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$16 million) globally on a production budget of ₹250 million (US$3.0 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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Trisha Krishnan[a] is an Indian actress who appears primarily in Tamil and Telugu films. She was first seen in 1999 in a minor supporting role in Jodi, then in the music video of Falguni Pathak's song "Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye". The first project she accepted as a lead actress was Priyadarshan's Lesa Lesa, but a delay in the film's release meant that her first appearance in a lead role was in Ameer's directorial debut Mounam Pesiyadhe in 2002, which was a commercial success.
The following year, Trisha appeared as a terminally ill woman in Manasellam, which was a commercial failure. Her next release in 2003 was Hari's action film, Saamy in which she played a soft-spoken Brahmin girl and attracted praise for her performance. The film became a major commercial success, resulting in Trisha receiving new offers, including those from several high-budget productions. Lesa Lesa, which was to have been her debut as a lead actress, was released next. This romantic musical, based on the 1998 Malayalam film Summer in Bethlehem, earned her the ITFA Best New Actress Award. Following Lesa Lesa, she starred in Alai and Enakku 20 Unakku 18 both of which were commercial failures. She made her debut in Telugu cinema in the same year with Nee Manasu Naaku Telusu, which was simultaneously shot with Enakku 20 Unakku 18, was also unsuccessful. (Full article...)
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Mangalore (/ˈmæŋɡəlɔːr, ˌmæŋɡəˈlɔːr/ MANG-gə-lor, -LOR), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about 352 km (219 mi) west of Bangalore, the state capital, 14 km north of Karnataka–Kerala border and 297 km south of Goa. Mangalore is the state's only city to have all four modes of transport—air, road, rail and sea. The population of the urban agglomeration was 619,664 according to the 2011[update] national census of India. It is known for being one of the locations of the Indian strategic petroleum reserves.
The city developed as a port in the Laccadive Sea during ancient times, and after Independence a new port was constructed in 1968 and has since become a major port of India that handles 75 percent of India's coffee and cashew exports. It is also the country's seventh largest container port. Mangalore has been ruled by several major powers, including the Mauryan empire, Kadambas, Alupas, Vijayanagar Empire, and Keladi Nayaks. The city was a source of contention between the British and the Kingdom of Mysore rulers Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan, and was eventually annexed by the British in 1799. Mangalore remained part of the Madras Presidency until India's independence in 1947 and was unified with Mysore State (now called Karnataka) in 1956. (Full article...) -
Image 2Maitreyi who lived during the later Vedic period in ancient India. She is mentioned in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as one of two wives of the Vedic sage Yajnavalkya; she is estimated to have lived around the 8th century BCE. In the Hindu epic Mahabharata and the Gṛhyasūtras, however, Maitreyi is described as an Advaita philosopher who never married. In ancient Sanskrit literature, she is known as a brahmavadini (an expounder of the Veda).
Maitreyi appears in ancient Indian texts, such as in a dialogue where she explores the Hindu concept of Atman (soul or self) in a dialogue with Yajnavalkya in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. According to this dialogue, love is driven by a person's soul, and Maitreyi discusses the nature of Atman and Brahman and their unity, the core of Advaita philosophy. This Maitreyi-Yajnavalkya dialogue is the topic of Sureshvara's varttika, a commentary. (Full article...) -
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Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975), popularly known as Kamarajar was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Chief Minister of Madras from 13 April 1954 to 2 October 1963. He also served as the president of the Indian National Congress between 1964–1967 and was responsible for the elevation of Lal Bahadur Shastri and later Indira Gandhi to the position of Prime Minister of India, because of which he was widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s. Later, he was the founder and president of the Indian National Congress (O).
Born as Kamatchi, Kamaraj had dropped out of school early and had little formal education. He became active in the Indian Independence movement in the 1920s and was imprisoned by the British Raj multiple times due to his activities. In 1937, Kamaraj was elected to the Madras Legislative Assembly after winning in the 1937 Madras Presidency Legislative Assembly election. He was active during the Quit India Movement in 1942, because of which he was incarcerated for three years till 1945. (Full article...) -
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Yasser Usman (born 1980s) is an Indian television journalist, bestselling author, news presenter, and biographer. Born in Delhi, Yasser Usman began his career by working as a television presenter and was awarded the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award for his contribution. Usman has been recognised by the media as one of India's most successful film biographers.
As a biographer, Usman's meticulously researched books primarily focus on the great cinematic journeys of stars, delving not only into their stardom but also their turbulent personal lives and tragic downfalls. His recent book is Guru Dutt An Unfinished Story. Before this book, Usman wrote the Untold trilogy, a series of three biographies on Hindi cinema- Bollywood. It started with Rajesh Khanna: The Untold Story of India's First Superstar (2014), which marked his debut as a biographer, and concluded with Sanjay Dutt: The Crazy Untold Story of Bollywood's Bad Boy (2018). Along with Rekha: The Untold Story (2016), Rajesh Khanna was nominated for the Crossword Book Award. (Full article...) -
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The Indian Antiquary: A journal of oriental research in archaeology, history, literature, language, philosophy, religion, folklore, &c, &c (subtitle varies) was a journal of original research relating to India, published between 1872 and 1933. It was founded by the archaeologist James Burgess to enable the sharing of knowledge between scholars based in Europe and in India and was notable for the high quality of its epigraphic illustrations which enabled scholars to make accurate translations of texts that in many cases remain the definitive versions to this day. It was also pioneering in its recording of Indian folklore. It was succeeded by The New Indian Antiquary (1938–47) and the Indian Antiquary (1964–71). (Full article...) -
Image 6Santosh Subramaniam (spelt Santhosh Subramaniyam onscreen) is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film directed by Mohan Raja and produced by Kalpathi S. Agoram. The film stars 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.
The film entered production in July 2007 and in addition to being shot in India, was also shot at the South Island of New Zealand. The film's soundtrack was composed by Devi Sri Prasad, who retained most of the tunes he composed for Bommarillu. (Full article...) -
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Taruni Sachdev (14 May 1998 – 14 May 2012) was an Indian child actress. She made her film debut in 2004 with Vellinakshatram, which endeared her to Malayalam audiences. The same year, she appeared in Sathyam and she acthe lead role in 2009. She also appeared in over 50 advertisements for various companies. Her last film was a Tamil film Vetri Selvan (2014), which was released two years after her death. She died in the 2012 Agni Air Dornier 228 crash near Jomsom Airport in Nepal. Her mother also died in the crash. (Full article...) -
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Raja Harishchandra (transl. King Harishchandra) is a 1913 Indian silent film directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke. It is often considered the first full-length Indian feature film. Raja Harishchandra features Dattatraya Damodar Dabke, Anna Salunke, Bhalchandra Phalke. and Gajanan Vasudev Sane. It is based on the legend of Harishchandra, with Dabke portraying the title character. The film, being silent, had English, Marathi, and Hindi-language intertitles.
Phalke decided to make a feature film after watching The Life of Christ (1906) at a theatre in Bombay in April 1911. In February 1912, he went to London for two weeks to learn filmmaking techniques and upon return founded Phalke Films Company. He imported the hardware required for filmmaking and exhibition from England, France, Germany, and the United States. Phalke shot a short film Ankurachi Wadh (Growth of a Pea Plant) to attract investors for his venture. He published advertisements in various newspapers calling for the cast and crew. As no women were available to play female roles, male actors performed the female roles. Phalke was in charge of scriptment, direction, production design, make-up, film editing, along with film processing. Trymbak B. Telang handled the camera. Phalke completed filming in six months and 27 days producing a film of 3,700 feet (1,100 m), about four reels. (Full article...) -
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Deepak Tijori (born 28 August 1961) is an Indian film director and actor who works in Bollywood and Gujarati films and is well known for his supporting roles in Aashiqui (1990), Khiladi (1992), Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992), Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa (1994), Ghulam (1998) and Baadshah (1999). He also starred as a lead actor in Pehla Nasha (1993). Tijori started his directing career with Oops! (2003), a film about male strippers. This was followed by Fareb (2005), Khamoshh... Khauff Ki Raat (2005), Tom, Dick, and Harry (2006) and Fox (2009). Thriller at 10 – Fareb, a TV mini-series produced by Tijori won the 2001 Indian Television Academy Awards in the category best mini-series. His recent directorial, Do Lafzon Ki Kahani, was released in the year 2016. (Full article...) -
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Ankita Bhakat (born 17 June 1998) is an Indian recurve archer from West Bengal, who is currently ranked world number 20 by the World Archery Federation. She is a member of the Indian national recurve team and competes in international events in the women's individual, women's team and the mixed team recurve categories. She competed in the 2017 World Archery Youth Championships held at Rosario, Argentina, and won the gold medal in the recurve junior mixed team event with partner Jemson Singh Ningthoujam. (Full article...) -
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Murali Kartik (pronunciation, born 11 September 1976) is a Cricket commentator and former Indian cricketer who sporadically represented the national team from 2000 to 2007. He was a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. He was not selected for international matches during his prime years due to the presence of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh in the Indian squad. A left-handed batsman who had some success with the bat at first-class level with 21 half-centuries, Murli was not able to repeat such performances at international level.
After starting out in the Delhi junior system, Murali moved through the age group ranks at Railways and was selected for the Indian Under-19 team. He made his first-class debut in 1996–97 and after a few productive seasons at the domestic level, made his Test debut in early 2000 as Kumble's bowling partner. However, he ran into disciplinary problems and was expelled from the National Cricket Academy in the same year. At the same time, new national captain Sourav Ganguly was reluctant to entrust him with responsibility. Ganguly called for off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to be recalled in 2001 and was rewarded with a series-winning performance against Australia. This entrenched the off-spinner in the team and left Kartik on the outer. (Full article...) -
Image 12Dostana (transl. Friendship) is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film directed by Tarun Mansukhani and produced by Dharma Productions. The film stars Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, and Priyanka Chopra in lead roles. Set in Miami, the film follows two men who pretend to be gay to share an apartment with a girl; eventually, both fall in love with her.
Mansukhani conceived the film as a tale of 3 friends living together, drawing inspiration from his own experience. Wanting to add something different to the script, he later decided to introduce homosexuality, which he thought was unexplored by Indian films, to shed light on the issue for the Indian audience. Manish Malhotra designed Chopra's costumes, and Aki Narula designed costumes for the rest of the cast. The soundtrack was composed by Vishal–Shekhar; Kumaar and Vishal Dadlani wrote the lyrics, while Salim–Sulaiman composed the background score. Principal photography took place in Miami, Florida over a two-month period in the first half of 2008. Dostana was the first mainstream Indian film with a gay element and has been credited for exploring a topic largely ignored by Hindi cinema. (Full article...) -
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Kilvidi Seshachari (2 January 1875 – 25 January 1917) was an Indian cricketer and a member of the first Indian cricket team to tour England in 1911. He played for the Hindus team as a wicket-keeper in the Bombay Quadrangular tournaments between 1902 and 1912. He was considered the best wicket-keeper in India in reports from the period. In addition to the Hindus cricket team in Bombay and the Indian team that toured England, Seshachari played for the Ootacamund Civilians and the Maharaja of Natore's cricket teams. (Full article...) -
Image 14Anniyan (transl. Stranger) is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language psychological action thriller film co-written and directed by S. Shankar and produced by V. Ravichandran under Aascar Films. The film centres on a disillusioned everyman, whose frustration at what he sees as increasing social apathy and public negligence leads to a split personality that attempts to improve the system. Vikram as Ambi, an idealistic, law-abiding lawyer who has multiple personality disorder and develops two other identities: a suave fashion model named Remo and a murderous vigilante named Anniyan. Sadha, Vivek, Nedumudi Venu, Nassar and Prakash Raj feature in supporting roles.
Shankar conceived the film in mid-2003 during the post-production period of his previous film, Boys. He based the film on his own life experiences during his formative years when he was disturbed by what he saw around him, and his eventual displeasure with the society. Pre-production for Anniyan began in November 2003 and principal photography in March 2004. The making of the film, which included numerous production delays, took 14 months. The film was shot at Hyderabad, Thanjavur, Tindivanam and Chennai, and the song sequences were filmed in Mumbai, Malaysia, Amsterdam and Tenkasi. The film was notable for its recreation of the Tyagaraja Aradhana music festival and the extensive use of time slice photography in an action sequence. (Full article...) -
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Krishna (/ˈkrɪʃnə/; Sanskrit: कृष्ण, IAST: Kṛṣṇa [ˈkr̩ʂɳɐ]) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is widely revered among Hindu divinities. Krishna's birthday is celebrated every year by Hindus on Krishna Janmashtami according to the lunisolar Hindu calendar, which falls in late August or early September of the Gregorian calendar.
The anecdotes and narratives of Krishna's life are generally titled as Krishna Līlā. He is a central figure in the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata Purana, the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, and the Bhagavad Gita, and is mentioned in many Hindu philosophical, theological, and mythological texts. They portray him in various perspectives: as a god-child, a prankster, a model lover, a divine hero, and the universal supreme being. His iconography reflects these legends and shows him in different stages of his life, such as an infant eating butter, a young boy playing a flute, a young boy with Radha or surrounded by female devotees, or a friendly charioteer giving counsel to Arjuna. (Full article...) -
Image 16"Didi Tera Devar Deewana" (transl. Sister, your brother-in-law is crazy) is a 1994 Hindi-language filmi song performed by Lata Mangeshkar and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam for the soundtrack of the 1994 Indian musical romantic drama film Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!. The track was composed by Raamlaxman, while lyrics were written by Dev Kohli. Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! was written and directed by Sooraj R. Barjatya and produced under the banner of Rajshri Productions. The music video of "Didi Tera Devar Deewana" shows the film's ensemble cast and leads Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan dancing at a baby shower ceremony.
The song became very famous after its release, with it reaching various music charts and bagging the Filmfare Special Award for Mangeshkar. The purple jaded satin saree designed by Anna Singh and sported by Dixit in the video trended in the markets, being also merchandised. Dixit's dance and looks throughout the clip were met with highly positive reviews. After watching the song's video, artist M. F. Husain found his muse in Dixit and went on to paint a series of paintings on her. The song is also featured on the dance rhythm video game Just Dance 3 with the song credited as Kurio ko uddah le jana by Bollywood Rainbow. (Full article...) -
Image 17The 2003 Afro-Asian Games, officially known as the First Afro-Asian Games or I Afro-Asian Games and unofficially known as the Inaugural Afro-Asian Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Hyderabad, India, from 24 October (excluding football and hockey, which began on 22 October and 23 October respectively) to 1 November 2003.
The Afro-Asian Games was the largest sporting event ever to be held in Hyderabad, and one of the largest in India, second only to the 2010 Commonwealth Games by athletes' volume. The scale of these Games exceeds even the two Asian Games held in Delhi in 1951 (both by athletes' volume and by number of participating nations) and 1982 (by number of participating nations). More than 2000 athletes from 96 countries competed in the Games. A total of 131 sporting events in eight disciplines were conducted. Also, 120 countries sent 1,565 official representatives to these Games. (Full article...) -
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Cyclonic Storm Komen was an unusual tropical cyclone that originated near the southern coast of Bangladesh and later struck the same country while drifting over the northern Bay of Bengal. The second named storm of the 2015 season, Komen brought several days of heavy rainfall to Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India. It formed as a depression on July 26 over the Ganges delta and moved in a circular motion around the northern Bay of Bengal. Komen intensified into a 75 km/h (45 mph) cyclonic storm and moved ashore southeastern Bangladesh on July 30. The system turned westward over land and was last noted over eastern India on August 2.
Across its path, Komen dropped torrential rainfall, primarily in northwestern Myanmar where the precipitation totaled at 840 mm (33 in) in Paletwa. The rains compounded upon ongoing flooding and contributed to the worst flooding in the country in a century. About 1.7 million people were forced to evacuate as flood waters inundated houses to their rooftops. About 510,000 houses in the country were damaged or destroyed, and many residents lost their source of income as 667,221 acres (270,015 hectares) of crop fields were damaged. The floods killed 132 people, of which at least 39 were directly related to Komen. The government requested assistance from the international community to cope with the disaster, considered the worst in the country since Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Elsewhere, the storm's flooding damaged 88,900 houses in Bangladesh and covered crop fields for a week; Komen killed 45 people in the country, some of whom due to illnesses spread by the storm. Later, floodwaters affected southeastern India, killing 103 people and damaging or destroying 476,046 houses. (Full article...) -
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The Imperial Gift was the donation of aircraft from surplus stocks in Britain after World War I to the dominions of the British Empire: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India. On 29 May 1919, the Cabinet of the United Kingdom agreed to give 100 aircraft to the dominions in addition to replacements for aircraft donated to Britain during the war. These aircraft formed the core of newly established air forces in several dominions.
In Canada, the 100 British-supplied aircraft, supplemented by another 20, were used to establish the Canadian Air Force in 1920 and Royal Canadian Air Force from 1924. Australia's 100 aircraft, supplemented by an additional 28, were used to establish the Royal Australian Air Force in 1921. New Zealand initially refused the Imperial Gift but later accepted a reduced allotment of 34 aircraft. Most were loaned to private aviation companies, but were returned to government control in the mid-1920s and used to establish the New Zealand Permanent Air Force. (Full article...) -
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Varaha Upanishad (Sanskrit: वराह उपनिषद्, "boar") is a minor Upanishad of Hinduism composed between the 13th and 16th centuries CE. Composed in Sanskrit, it is listed as one of the 32 Krishna Yajurveda Upanishads, and classified as one of 20 Yoga Upanishads.
The text has five chapters, structured primarily as a discussion between Vishnu in his Varaha (boar) avatar and the sage Ribhu. The discussion covers the subjects of Tattvas, the nature and relationship between the individual soul (Self, Atman) and the Ultimate Reality (Brahman), the seven stages of learning, the characteristics of Jivanmukti (inner sense of freedom while living), and the four types of Jivanmuktas (liberated persons). The last chapter of the text is dedicated to Yoga, its goals and methods. (Full article...) -
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Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Giri (IMD designation: BOB 04, JTWC designation 04B, also known as Cyclone Giri) was a powerful tropical cyclone in terms of 1-minute sustained wind speed which caused catastrophic damage in parts of Myanmar in late October 2010. Originating from an area of low pressure over the Bay of Bengal on October 19, the system began as a weak depression 250 km (155 mi) south of Myanmar. Over the following few days, the depression underwent explosive intensification, reaching its peak intensity with winds of 195 km/h (120 mph 3-minute sustained) on October 22. Cyclone Giri made landfall roughly 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Kyaukpyu, shortly after peaking. Within hours of moving onshore, the system had substantially weakened. By the following day, Giri had degenerated into a tropical depression and the final advisory was issued on the storm.
Unlike during Cyclone Nargis in 2008, the Government of Myanmar took steps to ensure the safety of residents in the path of Cyclone Giri. An estimated 53,000 are believed to have evacuated Kyaukphyu before the arrival of the storm. Throughout central Myanmar, at least 157 people are known to have been killed by Giri. Thousands of structures near where the storm made landfall were destroyed, leaving more than 70,000 people homeless. An international relief effort began shortly after the storm passed to assist survivors of the storm. Local and foreign media initially criticized the Myanmar government for not giving residents enough warning of the storm and then for keeping quiet on the situation, but the focus later shifted to the loss of life and relief efforts. (Full article...) -
Image 22The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a 2011 British comedy-drama film directed by John Madden. The screenplay, written by Ol Parker, is based on the 2004 novel These Foolish Things by novelist Deborah Moggach, and features an ensemble cast consisting of Dev Patel, Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Penelope Wilton, as a group of British pensioners moving to a retirement hotel in India, run by the young and eager Sonny, played by Patel. The film was produced by Participant Media and Blueprint Pictures on a budget of $10 million.
Producers Graham Broadbent and Peter Czernin first saw the potential for a film in Deborah Moggach's novel with the idea of exploring the lives of the elderly beyond what one would expect of their age group. With the assistance of screenwriter Ol Parker, they came up with a script in which they take the older characters completely out of their element and involve them in a romantic comedy. (Full article...) -
Image 23Dil Chahta Hai (transl. The Heart Desires) is a 2001 Indian Hindi-language comedy-drama film written and directed by Farhan Akhtar in his directoral debut. It was produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and released under the banner of Excel Entertainment (which Akhtar and Sidhwani co-founded), marking their cinematic debut. The film focuses on a significant transition period in the lives of three college-graduate friends (Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna). It also stars Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni and Dimple Kapadia.
Dil Chahta Hai was based on Akhtar's diary detailing his trips to Mumbai and New York City, and a story by a friend of his, Kassim Jagmagia, who would ultimately become a creative associate at Excel Entertainment. He started writing the screenplay in 1998 but finished it when the film's principal photography was started two years later. The film was produced on a budget of ₹80 million (US$960,000), and filming took place in both India and Australia. It was one of the first films shot in sync sound, with Nakul Kamte and H. Sridhar handling its sound recording. The trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, with lyrics penned by Akhtar's father, Javed Akhtar, composed the soundtrack and the background score. (Full article...) -
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Atul Atmaram Gawande (born November 5, 1965) is an American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. In public health, he was the chairman of Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation, and chairman of Lifebox, a nonprofit that works on reducing deaths in surgery globally. On June 20, 2018, Gawande was named the CEO of healthcare venture Haven, owned by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JP Morgan Chase and stepped down as CEO in May 2020, remaining as executive chairman while the organization sought a new CEO.
He is the author of the books Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science; Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance; The Checklist Manifesto; and Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. (Full article...) -
Image 25Yash Chopra (known as Yash Chopra: Fifty Years in Indian Cinema in India) is a biography written by the British professor and author Rachel Dwyer, chronicling the life and career of the Indian filmmaker Yash Chopra. The book details Chopra's birth in 1932 in Lahore, his career both as a director and producer, and his 1970 marriage to the then-playback singer Pamela, with whom he had two sons Aditya and Uday. The British Film Institute published Yash Chopra on 29 April 2002 in the United Kingdom and Roli Books did so on 30 July in India.
While writing All You Want is Money, All You Need is Love: Sexuality and Romance in Modern India (2000), Dwyer saw Chopra on a televised interview in 1993, which aired following the release of Darr. She watched the film and was impressed by it. She subsequently conceived a biography about the filmmaker and with some difficulty held meetings to interview him. Upon its release, the book received mixed reviews, with Dwyer's writing garnering the most appreciation, but her literal translation of Chopra's interviews from Hindi and Urdu to English generated critical negative responses. (Full article...)
News
- 13 September 2024 – Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir
- Two Indian soldiers are killed in action in clashes with separatists in Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir, India. (NDTV)
- 12 September 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine
- A spokesperson for the Indian Foreign Ministry say that about 45 Indian nationals have been discharged from the Russian military, with efforts currently underway to get a further 50 Indians released. (Reuters)
- 11 September 2024 –
- Hundreds of workers at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya, go on strike to protest against a planned deal to lease the airport to the Indian conglomerate Adani Group for 30 years. (Al Jazeera)
- 7 September 2024 – Manipur violence
- Ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki tribes kills five people in Manipur, India. The Government of Manipur orders all schools in the state to remain closed in response. (Al Jazeera)
- 2 September 2024 –
- One person is fatally shot and at least four other people are injured including one person who was critically injured in a mass shooting at the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn, New York, United States. (AP)
Did you know...
- ... that Jacqueline Kennedy bought several saris during her 1962 tour of India and Pakistan to be turned into sari-inspired dresses?
- ... that the Gyarah Murti statue was featured on the Indian 500-rupee note?
- ... that Indian field hockey player Sukhbir Singh Gill continued to play professionally after being diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2006?
- ... that Madhulika Ramteke's microfinance bank for Indian women grew to have over 5,000 "branches"?
- ... that Gandhi's statue in the Indian parliament is frequently used as a protest site by members of parliament?
- ... that the horse Sardar was gifted to Jacqueline Kennedy during her 1962 goodwill tour of Pakistan?
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