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ABOUT INDIA 1.1 Geographical Profile
India’ s mainland has an area of 3.29 million square kilometres( 1.3 million square miles) and a coastline of 7,516 km( 4,670 miles). It comprises four broad geographical areas( 1) the Himalaya Range,( 2) the Gangetic Plain,( 3) the Deccan Peninsula and( 4) the Coastal Strip.
India Snapshot
Time zone: GMT + 5 ½ hours. Government offices are open from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm, Monday to Friday. Banks are open from 10 am to 2 pm Monday to Friday and 10 am to 12 noon on Saturday.
Languages: The Constitution of India recognises 22 different languages that are prevalent in the country, of which Hindi is the official language. It is spoken in most urban cities. Besides, there are hundreds of dialects.
Religions: The religions prevalent in the country are Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism. Citizens are free to practice any religion. Around 83 per cent of the population is Hindu, 11 per cent Muslims, 2.5 per cent Christians, 2 per cent Sikhs, 1.5 per cent Buddhists, Jains and others.
India’ s climate is mainly tropical. However, due to altitudinal variations, almost all climatic conditions exist. There are four seasons:( i) winter( December-February),( ii) summer( March-June),( iii) southwest monsoon season( June-September) and( iv) post monsoon season( October-November). Temperatures during December and January average around 10-15 ° C( 50-59 ° F) in the north and west, while they are around 20 – 25 ° C( 68-77 ° F) in south and east. During summer or pre-monsoon season, lasting from March to June, temperatures average around 32-40 ° C( 90-104 ° F) in most parts of the plains.
1.2 General Life
1.2.1 Standard of Living
The standard of living in India is modest but constantly improving. The single most common indicator used to quantify standard of living is the per capita PPP adjusted GDP. According to IMF figures for 2012,( estimated) the per capita PPP adjusted GDP for India is US $ 3,900. Comparable figures for other countries are Japan- US $ 36,200, China- US $ 9,100 and USA- US $ 49,800. A booming economy and the expanding middle class are primary drivers to growth.
1.2.2 Education system
The education system in India is divided into schools( primary, secondary and higher education), colleges( higher secondary and undergraduate in technical and non technical fields), and post graduate( technical and professional education institutes).
Higher education in India has evolved in distinct and divergent streams with each stream monitored by an apex body, indirectly controlled by the Ministry of Human Resource Development and funded by the state governments. Besides numerous autonomous universities, there are 25 key universities called central universities, which are maintained by the Union Government, offering various courses in science, engineering, medicine and liberal arts. Vocational training is offered through public Industrial Training Institutes.
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