Portal:India/Did you know

This is a selection of articles on Wikipedia that appeared on the India Portal's Did you know section. (Archives are in sets of approximately 50 items each)

Did you know...

 * 1) ... that from November to April every year Jammu is the capital of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost Indian state, and that during the summer Srinagar is the capital?
 * 2) ... that as per an estimation almost 95% of India's flutes are manufactured in the city of Pilibhit only in the state of Uttar pradesh.
 * 3) ... that champion shooter Abhinav Bindra is the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at any Olympic Games?
 * 4) ... that houses in the Indian village Shani Shingnapur do not have doors?
 * 5) ... that the Nariman House, which was home to a Chabad house, was a Mumbai landmark prior to falling victim to the November 2008 Mumbai attacks?
 * 6) ... that the police shooting of Rahul Raj, a BEST bus hijacker in Mumbai, India, sparked nationwide protests and discussions?
 * 7) ... that Vakkom Moulavi was the founder of the newspaper Swadeshabhimani which was banned by the Government of Travancore due to its criticisms against the government and the Diwan P. Rajagopalachari?
 * 8) ... that when Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly scored a century on test debut at Lord's in 1996, he became the third overall and first since John Hampshire in 1969 to do so?
 * 9) ... that in 1870, the Indian Reform Association aimed at putting into practice some of the ideas that the Brahmo leader Keshub Chunder Sen was exposed to during his visit to Britain?
 * 10) ... that the term Sindhology as a subject of knowledge about Sindh was first coined in 1964?
 * 11) ... that the Halegannada, literally Old Kannada, is an ancient form of the Kannada language?
 * 12) ... that Nagpur Improvement Trust, a local civic government body of Nagpur, India established in 1936, is not an elected body and continues to work alongside Nagpur Municipal Corporation?
 * 13) ... that Indian scholar Śāntarakṣita is believed to have been instrumental in the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet? #.... sugar factory of kawardha which was stabilised in only eleven month.
 * 14) ... that during the Agra famine of 1837–38 in the North-Western Provinces of India, approximately 800,000 people died of starvation and an even larger number of livestock perished?
 * 15) ... that V.D. Savarkar wrote The Indian War of Independence, a nationalist history of the 1857 uprising, in response to British celebrations of the 50th anniversary of its suppression?
 * 16) ... that India established its diplomatic representation in Nigeria in 1958, two years before Nigeria's independence from British rule?
 * 17) ... that improving Indo-South African relations have led to phenomenal growth in bilateral trade, rising from US$3 million in 1992-93 to US$4 billion in 2005-06 and targeting US$12 billion by 2010?
 * 18) ... that M. P. T. Acharya is associated with Indian Nationalism and communism, as well as the anarchist movement?
 * 19) ... that India and Pakistan have expanded cross-border road and rail transport links, including across the disputed region of Kashmir?
 * 20) ... that growing Indo-Singaporean relations include extensive military cooperation and diverse bilateral trade, which is expected to rise from USD 9–10 billion in 2006 to USD 50 billion by 2010?
 * 21) ... that Indian film director Mohan Krishna Indraganti won eleven awards including the National Film Award and Nandi Award for his first directorial venture?
 * 22) ... that India and Vietnam plan to sign a free trade agreement to bolster bilateral relations and further expand trade, which is expected to reach US$2 billion in 2008?
 * 23) ... that although building India's first overseas military base in Tajikistan strengthened Indo-Tajik relations, bilateral trade remained low at USD 12.09 million in 2005?
 * 24) ... that the Indian politician Jamuna Nishad was dropped as cabinet minister after being named in the murder case of a police constable?
 * 25) ... that Kirori Singh Bhainsla leads a protest movement that recently attempted to bring Delhi to a standstill?
 * 26) ... that Indo-Maldivian relations grew stronger after India responded to Maldives' request for help and thwarted a militant plot to overthrow the government in 1988?
 * 27) ... that Marathi film Shwaas was India's official entry to the 2004 Oscars but faced financial problems to showcase and promote the film?
 * 28) ... that Indian Space Research Organisation chairman G. Madavan Nair declared at the Raman Science Centre, Nagpur that India would have astronauts in space by 2015?
 * 29) ... that Indian actress Kamalinee Mukherjee ' s poem was selected for an international poetry contest in Washington, D.C. just before she began her acting career in the Telugu film industry?
 * 30) ... that as a result of the 2008 Karnataka state assembly elections the Bharatiya Janata Party formed its first state government in southern India?
 * 31) ... that the 2006 visit by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to India was officially described as "heralding a new era in Indo-Saudi Arabian relations"?
 * 32) ... that India's USD 650–750 million aid for Afghanistan has bolstered bilateral relations and made it the largest regional provider of aid since overthrow of the Taliban?
 * 33) ... that Indian actor Sikandar Kher was still in high school when he assisted director Sanjay Leela Bhansali in making the 2002 film Devdas?
 * 34) ... that after being sentenced, beaten and left for dead for refusing to recite Muslim scriptures, Vaishnava convert Haridasa Thakur ' s (pictured) instant recovery convinced many he was a pir?
 * 35) ... that the 2008 Indian film Woodstock Villa marked the debut of veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher's son, Sikandar Kher?
 * 36) ... that improving Indo-Taiwanese relations have led to bilateral trade rising to USD 2.26 billion by 2005, even though India has not accorded diplomatic recognition to Taiwan?
 * 37) ... that T. V. Sundaram Iyengar laid the foundation for the motor transport industry in South India, when he started a bus service in Madurai, Madras Presidency in 1912?
 * 38) ... that Indian coracles, which probably existed since the prehistoric times, have recently been used for giving tourists rides on the Kaveri River?
 * 39) ... that India's "Look East" policy aims to establish extensive relations with Asian countries to project its influence as a counterweight to that of the People's Republic of China?
 * 40) ... that on December 12, 1996, India and Bangladesh signed a 30-year treaty resolving the long-standing dispute over the sharing of Ganges Waters?
 * 41) ... that India has developed close bilateral relations with Burma with the aim of countering China's growing influence and to elevate itself as a regional power?
 * 42) ... that at least 37 people have died in the ongoing caste violence in Rajasthan, India?
 * 43) ... that a free trade agreement made effective in 2000 strengthened Indo-Sri Lankan relations and quadrupled bilateral trade, which grew to US$2.6 billion by 2006?
 * 44) ... that although the Ishvara temple (pictured) in Karnataka, India, seems modest in construction, it is in fact the most complicated Hoysala monument?
 * 45) ... that Hindus worship the Krishna often as a small child Bala Krishna (pictured)), crawling on his hands and knees with a lump of butter in his hands?
 * 46) ... that the original images of Lord Swaminarayan (pictured) at the Shri Swaminarayan Temple in Karachi, Pakistan were removed and taken to India during the turbulent times of its partition?
 * 47) ... that the discovery of a stone celt with Indus script in Tamil Nadu in 2006 was regarded by Indian epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan as the "greatest archaeological discovery of a century in Tamil Nadu"?