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India’s probe agency Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) and the civil aviation ministry did not respond to HT’s requests for comment on the report. Indian pilots associations and Sabharwal’s family have criticised what they see as an attempt to pin the blame; and have called for more scrutiny on the aircraft maker, the airline and other factors too. The news report said the Indian investigators are preparing to state in their final probe report that Air India Flight 171 crashed because one of the pilots turned off the aircraft’s fuel switches in an act that was “almost certainly” intentional. Once India also ratifies the agreement, it can enter into force. Signing of the agreement between the EU and India

The term Bharat (Bhārat; pronounced ˈbʱaːɾət ⓘ), mentioned in both Indian epic poetry and the Constitution of India, is used in its variations by many Indian languages. This era was noted for creativity in art, architecture, and writing, but the status of women declined, and untouchability became an organised belief.l In South India, the Middle kingdoms exported Dravidian language scripts and religious cultures to the kingdoms of Southeast Asia. By 1200 BCE, an archaic form of Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, had diffused into India from the northwest. This risked damaging the image of a country investing heavily in air transport, tourism and trade, it quoted sources as saying. On a day when the Supreme Court of India sought a progress report on the probe into an Air India plane’s June 2025 crash in Ahmedabad — 260 people were killed — an Italian newspaper came out with new claims citing sources in aviation agencies. Alongside the free trade agreement, the EU and India are also negotiating agreements on geographical indications and investment protection.

Indian history begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization and the coming of the Aryans. © Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. Darjeeling – The queen of eastern Himalayas

For administration purposes, India has been divided into smaller pieces. They can make any government action invalid if it contradicts the Constitution. The Chief Justice of India is the head of the Supreme Court. They are elected directly by the people’s vote. Most members are elected indirectly by the legislatures of state and union territories. The legislature of India is called the Parliament (संसद Sansad).

What countries border India?

Over one quarter of the population (27.5%) was living in poverty in 2004–2005. In terms of PPP, the economy is 3rd largest (worth US$8.720 trillion). It is the 7th largest in the world with a nominal GDP of $2,250 billion (USD). India’s economy is among the world’s fastest growing. Neither mainland China nor Taiwan recognize that Arunachal Pradesh belongs to India.

It is also commonly worn with an bet 365 Indian blouse, or choli, which serves as the primary upper-body garment, the sari’s end—passing over the shoulder—covering the midriff and obscuring the upper body’s contours. In its modern form, it is combined with an underskirt, or Indian petticoat, and tucked in along the waist band for more secure fastening. From ancient times until the advent of the modern, the most widely worn traditional dress in India was draped. Dance has been an essential aspect of Indian films from the first talkies of the 1930s. Among 20th-century directions is the modern dance of Uday Shankar in which classical styles were employed but not adhered to rigidly.

Visual art

In recent decades India’s improved education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to its economic development. In 1965, when the 15 years were up, the Government of India announced that English would continue to be the “de facto formal language of India”. According to an Indian government study, an additional 21 million girls are unwanted and do not receive adequate care. With an estimated 1,428,627,663 residents in 2023, India is the world’s most populous country.

The Ancient Greeks referred to South Asians as Indoi, ‘the people of the Indus’. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the English proper noun “India” derives most immediately from the Classical Latin India, a reference to a loosely-defined historical region of Asia stretching from South Asia to the borders of China. India’s wildlife, which has traditionally been viewed with tolerance in its culture, is supported in protected habitats. It has disputes over Kashmir with its neighbours, Pakistan and China, unresolved since the mid-20th century. India has been a federal republic since 1950, governed through a democratic parliamentary system. In 1947, the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two independent dominions, a Hindu-majority dominion of India and a Muslim-majority dominion of Pakistan.

The Dravidian languages of India were supplanted in the north, creating a broad language familiy-divide, with the Indo-Aryan languages being spoken mainly in the north and west, and the Dravidian in some parts of east India and most of the south. The preferred endonym (the name given to the country by its own people) is “Bhārat” in Hindi and other Indian languages. India has the fourth largest number of spoken languages per country in the world, only behind Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Nigeria. It is made up of 28 states and eight union territories, and its national capital is New Delhi, built in the 20th century just south of the historic hub of Old Delhi to serve as India’s administrative center. Bounded by the Great Himalayas in the north, it stretches southwards and at the Tropic of Cancer, tapers off into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west.

Until 1991, all Indian governments followed protectionist policies that were influenced by socialist economics. According to the International Monetary Fund, the Indian economy in 2024 was nominally worth $3.94 trillion; it is the fifth-largest economy by market exchange rates and, at around $15.0 trillion, the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). There are six recognised national parties in the country, including the Indian National Congress (generally, “the Congress”) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP); there and over 50 regional parties.

• Indian timeline takes us on a journey of the history of the subcontinent.
• The decimal number system in use today was first recorded in Indian mathematics.
• Traditional sports include kabaddi, kho kho, and gilli-danda, which are played throughout India.
• The 522-million-worker Indian labour force is the world’s second largest, as of 2017update.

In the early centuries of the 2nd millennium Muslim armies from Central Asia intermittently overran India’s northern plains. In the 1st millennium, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism became established on India’s southern and western coasts. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world’s most populous democracy. Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

The 522-million-worker Indian labour force is the world’s second largest, as of 2017update. Since the end of the Cold War, India has increased its economic, strategic, and military cooperation with the United States and the European Union. After the 1965 war, India began to pursue close military and economic ties with the Soviet Union. The remaining five union territories are directly ruled by the central government through appointed administrators. All states, as well as the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, have elected legislatures and governments following the Westminster system. It has the power to both strike down union or state laws which contravene the constitution and invalidate any government action it deems unconstitutional.

India is the world’s fourth-largest economy with the world’s largest population, yet EU exports to India remain relatively low, compared to our exports elsewhere. The agreement will give EU companies privileged access to the world’s most populous country (nearly 1.5 billion people) and the fourth largest economy. Together, the EU and India represent around a quarter of the world’s population, with two billion people, and about 25% of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). As the 7th largest country in the world, India stands apart from the rest of Asia, marked off as it is by mountains and the sea, which give the country a distinct geographical entity. Association football is also a popular sport in northeast India, West Bengal, Goa and Kerala.

The countries next to India are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Bhutan and Nepal. Since 1991, India has been one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. India performed nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998.

Several modern religions are linked to India, namely modern Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Cave paintings from the Stone Age are found across India. There may be as many as 1,652 different dialects in India. It has the status of a ‘subsidiary official language’. About 65% of Indians live in rural areas, or land set aside for farming.

By 1991, no party secured a majority, but Congress formed a minority government led by P.V. The party lost again in 1989, with a short-lived National Front coalition government under V.P. However, this government lasted only about two years, with Morarji Desai and Charan Singh serving as prime ministers.

Leh was once a vital stop on the ancient Silk Road, connecting India to Central Asia and China. The Beating Retreat Ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border is a unique ceremony that features a synchronised parade by Indian and Pakistani soldiers. Qutub Minar is a towering minaret that was built in the 12th century and is the tallest brick minaret in the world! Welcome to the new Incredible India Digital Portal! Hindu nationalist BJP party scores biggest election victory by any party in 30 years. India and Pakistan go to war over East Pakistan, leading to the creation of Bangladesh.

Especially important was the coming of Islam, brought from the northwest by Arab, Turkish, Persian, and other raiders beginning early in the 8th century ce. Throughout its history, India was intermittently disturbed by incursions from beyond its northern mountain wall. Other religions, notably Buddhism and Jainism, originated in India—though their presence there is now quite small—and throughout the centuries residents of the subcontinent developed a rich intellectual life in such fields as mathematics, astronomy, architecture, literature, music, and the fine arts. It is known from archaeological evidence that a highly sophisticated urbanized culture—the Indus civilization—dominated the northwestern part of the subcontinent from about 2600 to 2000 bce. India became the world’s most populous country in 2023, according to estimates by the United Nations. Hindi and English are the two major lingua francas, while 22 scheduled languages have official state recognition.