India a traveler's paradise

India a traveler's paradise

India is a vast subcontinent, in which people of different languages and numerous dialects live together. A visit to India is a great opportunity to see the unique blend of different religions, customs, festivals, sights and sounds. The whole territory of indian peninsula is dotted with tourist destinations from Kashmir to kanyakumari and Gujarat to west Bengal. From snow-covered mountains to golden beaches, widely spread deserts to lush green forests, India is a true traveler's paradise. Among the famous tourist destinations in India include.

Delhi : The capital city of India is the administrative centre of the country. The historical city is now famous for spacious roads, flyovers, metro railway service, shopping malls, multiplexes and amusement parks. Delhi has many places of tourist interest like the rashtrapati bhawan, parliament house, red fort, jama Masjid, qutab minar, humayun's tomb, India gate and lotus temple etc.

Goa : Goa is famous for its silver sands and golden beaches. The place was ruled by the Portuguese more than five hundred years. Goa houses some of the most ancient and beautiful building of the country. Panaji, the capital city of Goa is major tourist destination, other important tourist destinations are margao, Vasco-da-gama, mapusa. Mormugao harbor, mollem, bicholim, valpoi, ponda, tiracol, etc.

Agra : The city also called as the city of Taj, is located in Uttar Pradesh state of India. Agra was a major centre of Mughal dynasty. It is famous worldwide for its world heritage sites of Taj Mahal and Agra fort. In addition other important tourist attractions in and around the city are the itmad-ud-daulah's tomb, sikandra and Fatehpur sikri.

Kashmir : The city also referred as the paradise on earth, is famous for its blue valleys, lakes and mountains. Srinagar the capital city of Jammu & Kashmir is popular for dal and nagin lakes. The shankaracharya temple provide the breathtaking view of the Kashmir valley. Other tourist attractions are Mughal gardens of Shalimar, hazratbal dargarh, pahalgam and gulmarg.

Kovalam : The small village, 13 Kms away from traivandrum district in Kerala, is famous all over the world for its beaches. Situated on the coast of Arabian sea, kovalam is one of the most popular tourist destinations in India. The major attractions of kovalam are the ayurvedic salons and resorts.

Alleppey : Alleppey or Alappuzha is a small town of Kerala. Alleppey is known for its picturesque canals, backwaters and lagoons created by sea. Also called as the 'Venice of the East' Allepey is popular for its coir factories, fish and lakes. The major attraction of alleppey is the snake boat races, which held between august and October.

Bangalore : Bangalore the capital city of Karnataka is also called as the 'garden city of India.' The city houses many buildings of historical and architectural importance. The popular tourist attractions of the city are Bangalore palace, Lal bagh, venkatappa art gallery, ISKCON, bull temple, vidhana soudha and cubbon park etc.

Mumbai : Mumbai formerly known as Bombay is the capital of Maharashtra. Also called as the commercial capital of India the city houses many tourist attractions like gateway of India, marine drive, Malabar hill, juhu beach, hanging gardens, kamla Nehru park, mahalaxmi temple, haji Ali shrine and siddhivinayak temple.

Aurangabad : The historical city is situated in the central part of Maharashtra. Aurangabad is a famous for its historical monuments including the world heritage sites of Ajanta and ellora. The major attractions of the Aurangabad include Aurangabad caves, bibi ka maqbara, panchakki, darwazas and himroo factory.

Chennai : Chennai the capital city of Tamil Nadu is one of the metro cities of India. The city is known for its rich culture and temple architecture. Chennai houses many temples, shrines, forts and palaces. Some of the famous attractions of the city include marina beach, fort St. George, high court complex, George town, corporation complex, government museum, national art gallery and kapaleeswarar temple.

Kolkata : Kolkata one among the metros of the country is the capital city of west Bengal. The city houses many tourist attractions like Howrah bridge, Alipur zoo, Victoria memorial, Birla planetarium and millennium park etc.

Freedom of press in india

Freedom of press in India

Despite being the largest democracy in the world, the indian press has never been accorded a free status. A survey of civil and political liberties carried out by freedom house listed the indian press as being "partly free". What is of concern here is that it figured even below countries like Burkina Faso, cape verde, Comoros, Ecuador and EI Salvador.

Ever since, the time of hickey, the administration has recognized the potential of the indian press to be severely anti-establishment. To check the growth of the indian press without seeming overtly restrictive, the British government enacted several legislation that were successful in restricting the indian press. This restriction has carried on to present times.

A major reason to doubt India's freedom of the press stems from the times of the emergency when constitutional safeguards meant to protect freedom of speech and expression were set aside. Even today the official secrets act allows the government to ban publication of articles dealing with sensitive security issues. However, journalists feel that in practice this is occasionally used to limit criticism of government actions, particularly in Punjab and Kashmir. The government controls even the issual of subsidized newsprint to newspapers.

The mass media in India works in the absence of an absorptive infrastructure and hence widespread illiteracy and a limited audience weaken the media's efficiency. It has been alleged that the most important limitation to the media's efficiency in India is its inclination towards being a "unidirectional transmitory mechanism", I.e., a center to periphery type of direction that is unable to represent particularistic interests.

The situation is however not so dismal. By looking at the role played by the press especially the electronic media, in the recent years, in reporting extreme situations like that of the Gujarat earthquake or other such situations, one notices the crucial role the press plays in bringing to the forefront the concerns of the affected populations.

Despite the fact that press freedom in India is not totally without hindrances in some form or the other, an active judiciary works consistently to safeguard the provisions of the Constitution and this was seen during the emergency of 1975-77. The judiciary is independent of the government in ordinary cases, although the system suffers from overload and is often inaccessible to the poor.

India has a large and conscious private press and although it has not always been successful in providing "early warnings" to the authorities, it has definitely succeeded in extracting political accountability from the government, an achievement that rightly needs to be acknowledged.

Moguls in india

Moguls in India

Moguls were a Muslim dynasty in India from fifteen twentysix to about eighteen fifty-seven. Let's first define the word mogul. The word mogul means an indian Muslim of or descended from one of several conquering groups of mongol, Turkish, and Persian origin. The word mogul is the Arabic and Persian version of mongol. The moguls were a Muslim dynasty founded in fifteen twenty-six by a man named babur. Babur was a descendent of both Genghis Kahn and timur. The dynasty ruled much of the Indian subcontinent until the mid eighteenth century.

Babur claimed the subcontinent as his right of inheritance because of the conquest of Delhi by his ancestor timur. Babur was a highly cultured man from Persia who disliked many facets of indian life but nonetheless established the most glorious empire in India's history. Babur reigned util fifteen thirty and was a man of culture as well as a military genius. Babur defeated the last Lodi Kind of the Delhi sultanate at Panipat. He then established a policy of tolerance toward his Hindu subjects even though he disliked India. Babur had a son named humayun. Humayun ruled from fifteen thirty to about fifteen-forty. Ten years or so. And again from fifteen fifty-five to fifteen fifty-six. He ruled despite the challenge mounted by the Afghan sher shah who ruled north India for five years. Humayun spent most of his reign attempting to consolidate mogul rule over baburs conquests.

Humayun had a son named Akbar. Akbar was said to be the greatest of all moguls in India. Akbar and hi successors, Jahangir, shah jahan, and Auramgzeb are generally considered to be one of the finest group's of kings that ever ruled in succession over such a long period of time. Akbar built the administrative machinery that forms the basis for many present day practices in India. Akbar was one of the most tolerant moguls in India. Akbar abolished a discriminatory tax on Hindus and did much to combine Hindu and Muslim motifs in palace architecture, art, literature and music. Akbars son and successor Jahangir was a heavy drinker who reveled in luxurious living. Jahangir's son shah jahan followed very closely in his father's footsteps. He too was a heavy drinker and also loved the luxurious lifestyle. Shah jahan was best known for his great building program, which culminated in the Taj Mahal. Shah jahan was also instrumental in extending the mogul empire to the Deccan plateau.

Shah jahan had a son named Aurangzeb who was to follow his father to the throne in India. Both shah jahan and Aurangzeb were much less tolerant of Hindus than their predecessors had been. After the death of Aurangzeb the mogul empire disntegrated quickly. Although the moguls were diminishing quickly ineffective rulers remained on the throne at Delhi until 1858.

Following the indian mutiny of 1857 the British exiled the last mogul emperor, bjahadur shah 2. The mogul's main legacy to India consisted of an administrative machine, land-tenure patterns and a system of revenue collection. All of these ideas have lasted a very long time. Also the magnificent mogul art and architecture have had a lasting impact on indian lifestyles.