INDIAN CITES

CITIES OF INDIA

This is a list of cities in India - * indicates capital cities of states of India.
Contents
Top · 0–9 · A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A
Abohar
Abu Road
Adilabad
Ariyalur
Agartala*
Agra
Ahmedabad
Ahmednagar
Aizwal*
Ajmer
Akola
Aligarh
Allahabad
Almora
Alwar
Ambala
Amber
Amravati
Amreli
Amritsar
Anakapalle
Anand
Anantapur
Anklesvar (Ankleshwar)
Anuppur
Araria
Arcot
Arrah
Aruppukkottai
Asansol
Ashok Nagar
Aurangabad
Auroville
Ayodhya
Azamgarh
kailash

[edit] B
Baharampur
Bahraich
Balaghat
Balasore
Ballia
Balrampur
Banda
Banga (City)
Bangalore*
Banganapalle
Banswara
Banur
Bardhaman (Burdwan)
Bareilly
Baripada
Barmer
Barrackpur
Barwani
Banswara
Belgaum
Bellary
Betul
Bhagalpur
Bhandara
Bharatpur
Bharuch
Bhavnagar
Bhilai Nagar
Bhind
Bhiwandi
Bhopal*
Bhubaneshwar*
Bhuj
Bidar
Bihar Sharif
Bijapur
Bikaner
Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh
Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh
Bilga, Punjab
Bodh Gaya
Bokaro Steel City
Bombay
Buldana
Burhanpur
Buxar
Bulandshahr
Barh

[edit] C
Calicut (now Kozhikode)
Cambay (Khambat)
Chamoli Gopeshwar
Champawat
Chamrajnagar
Chandannagar
Chandigarh
Chapra
Charkhari
Chandrapur
Chengalpattu
Chennai* (formerly Madras)
Chhatarpur
Chhindwara
Chikmagalur
Chiplun
Chitradurga
Chitrakoot Dham Karwi
Chittoor
Coimbatore
Contai
Coonoor
Cuddalore
Cuddapah
Cuttack

[edit] D
Dabra
Dadra
Dahod
Dakshineswar in North Calcutta
Daltonganj
Daman
Damoh
Darbhanga
Darjeeling
Datia
Davanagere
Dehgam
Dehradun*
Deoghar
Dewas
Delhi
Dhar
Dharampur
Dharamsala
Dholka
Dhule
Dhulian
Dispur*
Diu
Dombivli
Dumdum
Durg
Durgapur
Dwarka

[edit] E
Ernakulam
Erode
Etah
Etawah

[edit] F
Faizabad
Faridabad
Faridkot
Farrukhabad
Fatehgarh
Fatehpur Sikri
Ferozepur
Firozabad

[edit] G
Greater Noida
Gwalior
Gadchiroli
Gandhinagar*
Gangtok*
Ganjam
Garcha, Punjab*
Gaya
Ghaziabad
Ghazipur
Goa Velha
Godhra
Gondiya
Gorakhpur
Gulbarga
Gumla
Guna
Gundlupet
Guntur
Gurgaon
Guwahati
Gudarlur

[edit] H
Hoshiarpur
Haldia
Haldwani
Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh
Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh
Hanumangarh
Howrah
Harda
Harsawa
Haridwar
Hassan
Hastinapur
Hathras
Himatnagar
Hisar
Hansi
Hyderabad*

[edit] I
Imphal*
Indore
Itanagar*navdeep

[edit] J
Jabalpur
Jaipur*
Jais
Jaisalmer
Jalandhar
Jalgaon
Jagraon
Jammu
Jamnagar
Jamshedpur
Jaunpur
Jhabua
Jhalawar
Jhansi
Jhunjhunu
Jodhpur
Jorhat
Junagadh

[edit] K
Kakinada
Kalimpong
Kalwa
Kalyan-Dombivali
Kalyani
Kanauj
Kancheepuram
Kandla
Kangazha
Kannur
Kanpur
Kanyakumari
Karaikal
Karaikudi
Karimnagar
Karnal
Karur
Karwar
Kavaratti*
Khammam
Khandwa
Kharagpur
Khargone
Kheda
Khilchipur
Khuldabad
Kochi (formerly Cochin)
Kohima*
Kolhapur
Kolar
Kolhapur
Kolkata* (formerly Calcutta)
Kollam (formerly Quilon)
Konark
Korba
Kota
Kotdwara
Kothagudem
Kottarakara
Kottayam
Kovilpatti
Kozhencherry
Kozhikode (formerly Calicut)
Kulpahar
Kumbakonam
Kumbhraj
Kurnool
Kushinagar
Karamsad

[edit] L
Lalitpur
Leh
Lucknow*
Ludhiana

[edit] M
Madanapalle
Madgaon
Madikeri (Mercara)
Madurai
Mahabaleswar
Mahe
Mahoba (Ancient Name Mahotsav Nagar)
Mahwa
Majri, Punjab
Mandla
Mandsaur
Mangalagiri
Mangalore
Mapusa
Marmagao
Mathura
Machilipatnam
Meerut
Mirzapur
Mohali
Moradabad
Motihari
Mount Abu
Mullanpur
Mumbai* (formerly Bombay)
Mussoorie
Murwara (Katni)
Murshidabad
Muzaffarnagar*
Muzaffarpur
Mysore
Mokama

[edit] N
Nadiad
Nagapattinam
Nagarkurnool
Nagercoil
Nagpur
Nainital
Nalgonda
Nanded
Nandyal
Nandurbar
Narsimhapur
Narsinghgarh
Nashik
Navi Mumbai (New Mumbai)
Navsari
Nawalgarh
Neemuch
Nellore
New Delhi* or Delhi
New Guntur
Nizamabad
NOIDA (Gautam Budh Nagar)
Nanital
Nurmahal, Punjab

[edit] O
Ootacamund or Ooty (Udhagamandalam)
Ongole
Orai
Osmanabad

[edit] P
Palanpur
Panaji* ("Panjim")
Panchkula
Pandharpur
Panipat
Panna
Pasla, Punjab
Patan
Pathankot
Patiala
Patna*
Pimpri Chinchwad
Ponda
Pondicherry* (formerly Pondicherry)
Porbandar
Port Blair*
Pune
Puri
Pushkar

[edit] Q
Quilon (now Kollam)

[edit] R
Raichur
Raigarh
Raisen
Raipur*
Rajgarh
Rajahmundry
Rajkot
Rajnandgaon
Ramanathapuram
Rameswaram
Rampur
Rampur
Ranchi*
Ratangarh
Ratlam
Ratnagiri
Raurkela
Rewa
Rohtak
Roorkee
Rishikesh
Ropar
Rajapalayam
Rewari

[edit] Rani

[edit] S
Sagar
Salem
Samastipur
Sanawad
Sangli
Sathyamangalam
Satara
Satna
Saharanpur
Sehore
Seoni
Shajapur
Shegaon
Sheopur
Shillong
Shivpuri
Sholapur
Sikar
Silchar
Silvassa
Sindhanur
Shimla
Shimoga
Shirala
Siliguri
Singrauli
Sirohi
Sironj
Sitamarhi
Sriganganagar
Srikakulam
Srinagar
Surat
Surendranagar
Sitapur

[edit] T
Tamluk
Tenali
Thane
Thanjavur
Thathawata
Thiruvallur
Thrikkannamangal
Thrissur(formerly Trichur)
Thoothukudi, (formerly Tuticorin)
Tiruchirappalli
Tirunelveli
Tirupathi
Tirupur
Tikamgarh
Thiruvananthapuram* (formerly Trivandrum)

[edit] U
Udaipur in Rajasthan
Udaipur in Tripura
Udhagamandalam (formerly Ootacamund or Ooty)
Ujjain
Ulhasnagar
Unnao
Uttarpara in West Bengal

[edit] V
Vadodara
Vallabh Vidhyanagar
Valsad
Vandavasi
Vapi
Varanasi (aka Banaras, Kashi)
Vasai
Vasco da Gama, Goa
Vellore
Vidisha
Vijayawada
Viluppuram
Virar
Visakhapatnam
Vizianagaram

[edit] W
Warangal
Wardha
Wani

[edit] Y
Yavatmal
Yanam
Yamuna Nagar

See also
Status of Indian cities
List of cities
Million plus cities in India

External links
Map
India Census

INDIAN STATES

STATES OF INDIA

India is subdivided into twenty-eight states and seven union territories; the states and territories are themselves further subdivided.[1]
Contents[hide]
1 Pre-1956
2 After 1956
3 Present states and territories
4 See also
5 References
6 External links


[edit] Pre-1956
The subcontinent of India has been ruled by many different ethnic groups throughout its history, each imposing their own administrative divisions on the region. Modern India's current administrative divisions are fairly recent developments, which began to develop during British colonial rule of India. British India included all of present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, as well as the associated protectorates of Nepal, Afghanistan and Burma (Myanmar). During this period, regions of India were either directly ruled by the British or under the control of local rajas. Independence in 1947 largely preserved these divisions, with the exception of areas like the Punjab and Bengal, which were divided between India and Pakistan. One of the first challenges for the new nation was the integration of the multitude of princely states into the union.
Following independence, however, instability soon arose. Many of the states had been arbitrarily created by the British to serve their colonial purposes and as such, did not reflect either the will of India's citizens or the vast ethnic diversity found throughout the subcontinent. Ethnic tensions spurred the Indian Parliament to reorganize the country along ethnic and linguistic lines in 1956.

[edit] After 1956
The former French and Portuguese colonies in India were incorporated into the Indian Republic as the union territories of Puducherry, Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Goa, Daman, and Diu in 1962.
Several new states and union territories have been created out of existing states since 1956. Bombay State was split into the linguistic states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on May 1, 1960 by the Bombay Reorganisation Act. The Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966 divided the Punjab along linguistic and religious lines, creating a new Hindu and Hindi-speaking state of Haryana, transferring the northern districts of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh, and designating Chandigarh, the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana, a union territory. Nagaland was made a state in 1962, Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh in 1971, and Tripura and Manipur in 1972. Arunachal Pradesh was made a union territory in 1972. The Kingdom of Sikkim was annexed to India as a state in 1975. Mizoram was made a state in 1986, and Goa and Arunachal Pradesh in 1987, while Goa's northern exclaves of Daman and Diu became a separate union territory. In 2000 three new states were created; Jharkhand was created out of the southern districts of Bihar, Chhattisgarh was created out of eastern Madhya Pradesh, and Uttaranchal was created out of northwestern Uttar Pradesh. The Union Territories of Delhi and Pondicherry have since been given the right to elect their own legislatures, and hence are on their way to full statehood.

[edit] Present states and territories

Administrative divisions of India, including 28 states and 7 union territories
States:
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Orissa
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
Union Territories:
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Chandigarh
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Daman and Diu
Lakshadweep
National Capital Territory of Delhi
Puducherry

[edit] See also
List of states of India by population
List of states of India by area
List of Indian states ranked by population density
List of Indian state and UT capitals
States of India by size of economy
List of Indian States and Union Territories and their two digit codes
Subdivisions of India

INDIAN ACHIEVMENT

ACHIVMENT

Political Structure - Indian Foreign Policy - 50 Years of Achievement


The foundations of India's foreign policy were laid during the freedom movement when our leaders, even when fighting for independence, were engaged with the great causes of the time. The principles of India's foreign policy, that emerged then, have stood the test of time: a belief in friendly relations with all countries of the world, the resolution of conflicts by peaceful means, the sovereign equality of all states, independence of thought and action as manifested in the principles of non-alignment, and equity in the conduct of international relations. Under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, India was the founder member of the Non-aligned Movement (NAM). India has played an active role in strengthening the movement and making it an effective voice in representing the collective aspirations and interests of the developing countries on such vital issues as development, peace and stability. India hosted the seventh NAM Summit in New Delhi in 1983. In recent years, after the end of the Cold War, our foreign policy has been focused on strengthening the movement by redefining its priorities in keeping with the changing times. India has also been in the forefront of the world community in the struggle against colonialism. Indeed, the Independence of India itself played the role of a catalyst in removing the vestiges of colonialism in other parts of the developing world, particularly in Africa. India was also the first country to raise the question of racial discrimination in South Africa in 1946. It was at India's initiative that the AFRICA (Action for Resistance to Invasion, Colonialism and Apartheid) Fund was set up at the eighth NAM Summit in Harare in 1986. India was the Chairman of the AFRICA Fund Committee, which wound up in 1993. A notable feature of India's foreign policy has been its strong advocacy of general and complete disarmament. With nuclear disarmament being accorded the highest priority, India has taken several initiatives within the United Nations and outside towards this end. In 1988, India presented to the third Session of the UN General Assembly devoted to disarmament an action plan for ushering in a nuclear weapons free and non violent World Order. In order to highlight international concern about the unprecedented nuclear arms race, India was also a member of the Six-Nation Five-Continent Joint Initiative in the 1980s. But while India has, and will, remain committed to nuclear disarmament, to be achieved in a time-bound framework, it has consistently and in a principled manner opposed such discriminatory treaties as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and has refused to give up its nuclear options until all countries in the world including nuclear weapon states embrace the idea of nuclear disarmament in a phased manner. As a founder member of the United Nations, India has been firmly committed to the purposes and principles of the United Nations and has made significant contributions to its various activities, including peacekeeping operations. India has been a participant in all its peacekeeping operations including those in Korea, Egypt and Congo in earlier years and in Somalia, Angola and Rwanda in recent years. India has also played an active role in the deliberations of the United Nations on the creation of a more equitable international economic order. It has been an active member of the Group of 77, and later the core group of the G-15 nations. Other issues, such as environmentally sustainable development and the promotion and protection of human rights, have also been an important focus of India's foreign policy in international forums. Commensurate with national interests and security, the improvement of bilateral relations is an important component of any foreign policy, and India has succeeded in establishing a network of mutually beneficial relations with all countries of the world. In particular, the improvement of relations with its neighbours has always been one of the pillars of India's foreign policy. India played a historic and unique role in the liberation of Bangladesh, which emerged as a sovereign nation in 1971. Through the implementation of the 1964 and 1974 agreements, the issues of the stateless people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka were resolved. In 1988, India helped preserve the integrity of Maldives by coming to the assistance of that country and preventing an attempted takeover by armed mercenaries. The Indian government has taken recent initiatives to further strengthen ties with its neighbours, which have won international appreciation. These initiatives are based on five clear principles: First, with neighbours like Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, India does not ask for reciprocity but gives all that it can in good faith and trust. Second, no South Asian country should allow its territory to be used against the interests of another country of the region. Third, none will interfere in the internal affairs of another. Fourth, all South Asian countries must respect each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. And finally, they should settle all their disputes through peaceful bilateral negotiations. These tenets have paid rich dividends. A landmark treaty has been signed with Bangladesh on the sharing of waters of the Ganga. With Bhutan and Nepal, major projects of economic collaboration have been advanced. Our relations with Sri Lanka have shown steady improvement. With Pakistan, India has consistently pursued a policy seeking to improve relations under the framework of the Shimla Agreement signed in 1972, which provided for the resolution of outstanding issues peacefully and bilaterally and for establishing durable peace in the subcontinent. Bilateral discussions with Pakistan have resumed recently and India would continue efforts to have good neighbourly relations with Pakistan. An important achievement of India's foreign policy has been the strengthening of regional cooperation. India is an active member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which was launched in December 1985. With India's full support, SAARC has recently taken significant steps in accelerating the pace of economic cooperation. The South Asian Preferential Trade Arrangement (SAPTA) became operational in December 1995. At the ninth SAARC Summit in Male in May 1997, which was chaired by India, a historical decision has also been taken to strive for a South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) latest by the year 2001. The emergence of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IORARC) in March 1997, as a major instrument of cooperation in the larger region, has also had the active support of India. India's foreign policy has always regarded the concept of neighbourhood as one of widening concentric circles, around a central axis of historical and cultural commonalties. From this point of view, it has always given due priority to the development of relations with South East Asia. In 1947, India organised the Asian Relations Conference. It chaired the International Control Commission in 1954 and was a major player in the organisation of the Bandung Conference in 1955. Today, India is implementing a 'Look East' policy, which is underpinned by important economic considerations. Some significant steps in the pursuance of this policy have been taken with the admission of India as a full dialogue partner of ASEAN and a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum in 1996. An attribute of a dynamic foreign policy is the ability to respond to changing developments. The emergence of the Central Asian Republics in the aftermath of the break up of the Soviet Union was one such recent development, and India, given the strategic and economic importance of this region, has been quick to strengthen its bilateral relations with each of these republics. The shift in recent years by the countries of Central and East Europe to political pluralism and market-oriented structures has also seen India trying to build upon existing business and institutional linkages so as to further strengthen the traditional ties of friendship with the countries of this region. The countries of the Gulf have a political and strategic importance for India. The region is a major market for Indian exports. Three million Indians are employed in these countries. The strengthening of ties with this region, therefore, has been a priority of India's foreign policy. With China the aim of Indian foreign policy has been of developing a relationship of friendship, cooperation and good neighbourliness, exploiting the potential for favourable growth wherever it exists, even as we seek to find a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution to the outstanding border issue. Towards this aim, a series of high-level visits have been exchanged, bilateral trade and economic cooperation is growing, and an Agreement on Confidence-Building Measures, as part of a wider dialogue on security, has been signed. India values its bilateral relations with the US. As democracies, both countries have many shared ideals. Relations have also continued to grow with the 15 countries of the European Union, and with Japan. These countries are important economic partners of India, especially in the wake of our economic reforms. However, in pursuing bilateral relations, we have sought to preserve the independence of our viewpoint and protect our national interests from the pressures of conformity. Our relations with Russia have grown over the years to constitute an important foreign policy priority for both countries. There is recognition in both counties to the strategic dimension of our multi-faceted ties. The considerable goodwill for India in Russia has been further cemented in recent years. Economic diplomacy has been a key component of India's foreign policy. Apart from long-established divisions in the ministry to deal with economic issues, an Investment Publicity Unit (IPU) was specifically set up in 1990 with a view to disseminating economic information and coordinating the economic and commercial activities of Indian missions abroad in the light of the recent economic reforms underway in the country. One aspect of economic diplomacy has been the promotion of South-South Cooperation. The Indian Economic and Technical Cooperation (ITEC) Programme was established in 1964. Today it extends to 110 countries in Asia, East Europe, Africa and Latin America and facilitates the training of as many as 1,000 foreign candidates in Indian institutions each year. As many as 20 million people of Indian origin live and work abroad and constitute an important link with the mother country. An important role of India's foreign policy has been to ensure their welfare and well being within the framework of the laws of the country where they live. The strength of any foreign policy depends also on the professional abilities of those who implement it, both at headquarters and in the field. With a view to ensuring this, the Foreign Service Institute was established to undertake specialist training for entrants into the Indian Foreign Service, and conduct several other specialist courses for Indian and foreign diplomats. It is difficult to enumerate the achievements of a country's foreign policy in exactly quantifiable terms. With this as a qualification, it would be a fair assessment to make that Indian foreign policy has sought to preserve, with conviction and consistency, the principles that were enunciated by the founding fathers of the Republic, both in the development of bilateral relations, and in international forums, where our views have won recognition and respect. A significant factor underlying this achievement has been the consensus, cutting across political divides, within the country, on what the basic aims and objectives of Indian foreign policy should be. Political Structure More information on India

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INDIAN SPORTS

SPORTS OF INDIA

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Indian Sports are classified into three categories based on Medal Prospects - Priority, General and Others.
Common Sports in India include cricket (by far the most popular), soccer, field hockey, lawn tennis, chess, etc. Although hockey is the official sport of India, cricket has become much more popular.
The history of sports in India dates back to the Vedic era. Physical culture in ancient India was fed by a powerful fuel--religious rites. There were some well-defined values like the mantra in the Atharva-Veda, saying," Duty is in my right hand and the fruits of victory in my left". In terms of an ideal, these words hold the same sentiments as the traditional Olympic oath: ".......For the Honour of my Country and the Glory of Sport."
Contents[hide]
1 Cricket
2 Football
3 Field hockey
4 Lawn tennis
5 Chess
6 Kabaddi
7 Formula One
8 Badminton
9 Boxing
10 Basketball
11 Rugby
12 Golf
13 Billiards and snooker
14 Volleyball
15 Table Tennis
16 Squash
17 Bowling
18 Polo
19 Horse Racing & Equestrian
20 Sailing
21 Gymnastics
22 Throwball
23 Baseball & Softball
24 Ice Hockey
25 Flat Water & Sea Kayaking
26 Snow sports
27 Extreme Sports (Adventure Sports)
27.1 Whitewater Kayaking
27.2 Rock Climbing
27.3 Mountain Biking
27.4 Scuba Diving
28 Others
29 External links
//

[edit] Cricket
Main article: Cricket in India
Cricket is by far India's most popular sport. The origin of the game Cricket was gradual. It evolved from various sources like a Scottish sport known as 'cat-and-dog' and a thirteenth century pass-time called 'hand in and hand out'. The game which is played today has its origin in the south eastern part of England. Cricket became a generally adopted sport in the second half of the seventeenth century. The Hambeldon club which was founded in about 1750 had played a significant part in the evolution of the game. It was superseded by the Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C) with its headquarters at Lords, London. This became the world authority of the sport and its sanctuary. An official country championships began in England in 1873 and it became an International game with the formation of the Imperial Cricket Conference (I.C.C) in 1909. The I.C.C membership was confined only to the British Commonwealth countries. In 1956, the name of Imperial Cricket Conference was changed to International Cricket Conference to enable countries outside the common wealth to become its members.
In recent years, India achieved tremendous success in cricket, winning the 1983 Cricket World Cup under Kapil Dev, and finishing as runner-up in 2003 World Cup under Sourav Ganguly. Domestic cricket in India has major tournaments like Ranji or Duleep trophy.india also has a player .. Sachin tendulkar which is the all time best batsman of the world.Sachin holds the unbeatable records in both form of the game.

[edit] Football
Main article: Football in India
Football is very popular in India.[1] In recent years, the broadcast of the FIFA World Cup and foreign leagues such as the English Premier League and the Spanish La Liga have increased the popularity of football in urban areas.[2] Many Indians keenly follow local as well as South American and European clubs. The sport is most popular in Goa, Kerala, Manipur and West Bengal. The National Football League (NFL) is the premier football league in India. East Bengal and Mohun Bagan are the most popular football clubs in India. In September 2006, India and Brazil signed an agreement to formalise a scheme to train Indian footballers and coaches[3]

[edit] Field hockey
Main article: Field hockey in India
Field Hockey is India's national game. Field hockey is hockey played outdoors in grass. India was once the best international team in the world. The team had won many medals and had many great players. India has won 8 Olympic Golds and the World Cup in 1975 and runners-up in 1973. Indian great player such as Major Dhyanchand has been reffered to as 'wizard' and German popular chancellor Hitler once offer him a marshall rank in his army.

[edit] Lawn tennis
Tennis is popular among Indians in urban areas. However India's fortunes in the Grand Slams singles have been unimpressive. The best result in Tennis for India has been placed 2nd in the Davis Cup (default as they refused to play against apartheid South Africa). owing mainly to the performance of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Paes bagged a bronze Olympic medal in 1996. Sania Mirza is India's highest ranked women. She was the first Indian woman to qualify to the 3rd round of wimbledon.She has also won a WTA tournament

[edit] Chess
Chess originated in India. It is quite a popular sport, but players lack sponsors. India has produced one of the all-time great chess players of the world Vishwanathan Anand. Other grandmasters are emerging from different states, including Parimarjan Negi, world's youngest International master.

[edit] Kabaddi
Main article: Kabaddi
Kabaddi originated from Punjab and Haryana states of India, agility and most importantly hand eye coordination. This sport is played by a person called a "raider" goes to one side where 4 teammates will be holding hands in a semi-circle. The raider has to try to touch one of the teammates and run back to his line. But the teammates holding hands can grab the raider and knock him down, which will earn his team a point. These are just the simple rules, there are more complexed rules. India bagged gold at the Asian Games 2006 men's event and won a gold in kabaddi world cup held in india

[edit] Formula One
Main article: Formula One
The Formula One Motor Racing sport is gaining popularity in urban India. It is one of the fastest growing sports as far as viewship is concerned. Since 2005, Narain Karthikeyan (an Indian) has been driving for Team Jordan. He is also the second test driver for Team Williams. Though no F1 circuits are in India at present, there is an F3 circuit at Sri Perumbudur near Chennai.

[edit] Badminton
Badminton is supposed to have originated in India since 2000 years. Although India is not among the top teams, it does consistently produce players of high international ranking. Prakash Padukone and Pullela Gopichand have won the prestigious All England Badminton Championships. Badminton is a popular recreation sport all over India. Young talents like Saina Nehwal are emerging from different states.

[edit] Boxing
Boxing is one of the lesser profiled sports in India. Boxing does have school and national championship matches. However India is yet to produce a heavyweight champion. In Nov 2007, India's M. C. Mary Kom won the best boxer title for the third time and created a hatrick. Today there are great boxers like Aruna Mishra, Sarita Devi, N. Usha, Jenny Ralte, Lekha, Renu and Kalpana Chaudhary. India is a regular medal-holder at Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. The English boxing champion is Indian.

[edit] Basketball
Basketball is primaraly a school sport in India. However the sport has extremely poor profile.

[edit] Rugby
The British introduced Rugby to India. The game is being played domestically for over 100 years now. The popularity of the game has increased over the last few years and the game has spread all over the country. The main centres that play rugby are Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore. Rugby is predominantly played in clubs but lot of work is being conducted for grassroot development. The Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU), is the governing body of rugby in India and hosts the All India & South Asia Rugby Tournament annually which is the premier national level tournament in the country.
See also: Indian Rugby Team
India right now has a National Rugby Union team. India started playing internationally since 1998. India has played 18 tests: Won 2, Draw 1, Lost 15. India also competes in the 7-a-side format at the international level but doesn't have a women's rugby team, though there has been some evidence of women being trained for rugby.

[edit] Golf
Golf is a sport that is becoming popular in India. There are numerous golf courses all over India. However, the sport is expensive and mostly corporates and the rich play the sport. There is an Indian Golf Tour. Many Indian professionals have competed on the Asian Tour and a few have made the top level European and PGA Tours. Among Indian golf stars are Jeev Milkha Singh, who became the first Indian to make the top fifty of the Official World Golf Rankings in late 2006, and Jyoti Randhawa. India's men's golf team won silver at the 2006 Asian Games.

[edit] Billiards and snooker
Billiards and Snooker are popular club sports in India. India has produced players of international ranking, Geet Sethi, Michael Ferreira & champion Pankaj Advani to name some.

[edit] Volleyball
Volleyball is a sport played all over India, both in rural as well as urban India. It is a popular recreation sport but India does not have a world class team as yet.

[edit] Table Tennis
Table Tennis is a popular indoor recreation sport in India. States like West Bengal ,Tamil Nadu are producing a few world-class players.
Table Tennis Federation of India is the Official Sports Body which controls the game in India(http://www.ttfi.org/).
India had produced some good players like Kamlesh Mehta , Chetan Baboor and Achanta Sharath Kamal who is currently ranked 90 in the world . He is also the current Commonwealth champion . Chetan was ranked around 66 when he was at his peak.Unfortunately the amount of money being pumped into Table Tennis in India is meagre as compared to other games like Cricket & Golf. Due to the lack of good performances by Indians in World Championships and Olympics has kept the sponsors uninterested in the sport.

[edit] Squash
Squash is a recreation sport, played in clubs in urban areas. Over the last few years due the efforts of Mr N. Ramachandran, Secretary General of the Squash Raquets Federation of India, a world class facility has been constructed in Chennai, India. If not for petty squabbles with factions in the North (New Delhi) and the West (Maharashtra) Mr Ramachandran's legacy would indeed have been a fabulous one.
However, unaffected by the politics the juniors in the country are forging ahead. Led by the erstwhile SRFI Academy pupils Saurav Goshal & Joshna Chinappa who have both won the British Junior Open (the Wimbledon of squash). Ever more players are now playing on the international circuit.
Some of the leading Indian Squash Players are - Ritwik Bhattacharya, Saurav Ghosal, Joshna Chinappa and Anwesha Reddy.
Indian Squash Professionals (ISP) is a Non-Profit making Organization, formed in 1993, with the sole aim of promoting this game in India. The idea of forming ISP was born in 1993 by its Founder Director Mahendra Agarwal. It was in January 1993 that India had first ever squash tournament (since 1947 ) only for the Professionals or markers as they are known in India.
Between January 1993 till date, they have organized 63 tournaments, 25 free coaching camps all over India (including Rajkot, Jodhpur & Mussorie), adopted 5 players (Arif Paul, Deepali Anvekar, Priyanka Yadav, Abhishek Pradhan and Ankita Sharma).

[edit] Bowling
In the recent past this sport has gained some popularity in urban India, but is still a recreational sport and not yet considered as a competitive sport. It involves expensive infrastructure and space which is hard to come by in many Indian cities. 'Bowler's Den' has recently come up in Kolkata for people who take interest in Bowling.

[edit] Polo
It is supposed that polo originated in India, the Mughal emperors being the first players. Considered a royal game, polo is popular in the Indian army as well as in northern India.

[edit] Horse Racing & Equestrian
Horse racing derbies are held in many cities in the winter season. In recent past, India earned bronze medal in the Equestrian event at the Asian Games 2006. COOL

[edit] Sailing
Popular among sailors that live on ther coasts of India.

[edit] Gymnastics
Almost non existent after school level. Bears similarities to local sport from Maharashtra called Mallakhamb. This has been pursued by police and armed forces of India, but Gymnastics in general has not gained much popularity. There are some schools in urban India (e.g. Mumbai) and Maharashtra state. But popularity to participate remains low.

[edit] Throwball
A woman's sport, played mostly at school level. The game is slowly developing as a favorite among women. It's a healthy sport that ensures exercise for young women and at the same time does not require them to push too hard.

[edit] Baseball & Softball
These sports have recently started to show up. Softball is played at school and university level.
Maharashtra is leading on the same followed by Punjab & Delhi team.
Now Softball is growing in other states of India also.
Almost all the universities has this game It is played in 3 age groups:-
1) Subjunior
2) Junior
3) Senior.

[edit] Ice Hockey
Though still in a primitive stage, the first national championship was held in Jammu & Kashmir in 2003.
Ice Hockey in India

[edit] Flat Water & Sea Kayaking
Indian flat water Kayakers are considered emerging powerhouse in the Asian circuit. Aside from professional flat water kayaking, there is very limited recreational kayaking. Potential to generate interest in flat water Kayaking is held by leisure resorts located near sea or other water bodies. But most often than not, Indian tourists consider Kayaking a one time activity and not a lifestyle sport to be pursued. As such any exposure to Kayaking at these resorts is lost on India.

[edit] Snow sports
Except for sking, snow sports are non existent, mainly due to the lack of snow except in the extreme north. However, ski tournaments take place every winter in Gulmarg, Kashmir.

[edit] Extreme Sports (Adventure Sports)
Definition of extreme sports as applied globally might differ in India. With a cultural mindset towards sports as an activity pursued by frivolous, any pursuit of sport might be considered extreme. But for benefit of semantics, we will try to stick to sports that truly maybe considered extreme in their nature of variables that add that element of adrenaline rush to a sporting activity.

[edit] Whitewater Kayaking
Whitewater kayaking has its rabid enthusiasts mostly concentrated in north towards Himalayas, and some in the south on the Kali River, in Karnataka. Most of these enthusiasts are or were Whitewater Raft guides who took to the sport of Whitewater kayaking.
Some of the prominent WW Kayakers based on their blip on the internet include - Abhinav Kala (http://treknraft.com/), Shalabh Gahlaut (http://kayakindia.com/), John Pollard (http://www.kalirafting.com/).
Many of these above and other WW Kayakers have notched first descents (similar to Climbing Ascents), on rivers in India and Nepal. The race for first descents is probably what will fuel the imagination of Indian WW Kayakers in the future.
Gear availability is another problem that plagues Indian WW Kayakers. While the global designs for WW boats and paddles changing annually, Indian WW Kayakers have to pay heavy duties for importation of any of the gear, or have buy used gear in Nepal and still end up paying terrible amount of duties. More often than not, you will see Indian Kayaking guides riding down the river in a Perception Amp or Piroutte or Dancer kind of design while the Kayakers from abroad in their new design, planing hull, centered volume kayaks from Riot, Pyranha or Wavesport. While the Indian guide will have a battered paddle bought many seasons back, and probably an inch or two longer, the international newbie tourist will sport a bent shaft ultra-light weight paddle that probably costs as much as Rs.30,000 or more (and know not which edge of the paddle dips in the water).

[edit] Rock Climbing
A growing percentage of climbers have evolved into the climbing scene in India. A vibrant scene is evolving in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Shillong, Kolkata and other parts of North East and North. With the growing population of climbers (check out resources: http://rockclimbing.com/forums/links.php?id=156), gear availability is becoming a reality (http://www.aviindustries.com/).
Annual competitions promoting Rock Climbing are growing in their strength (this is a relative term but imagine over fifty participants and hundreds of viewership - not bad for an evolving sport.)
Along with the increasing interest in climbing, multiple climbing walls are sprouting all over the country. The number of these climbing walls is probably less than 20-30 all over the country (and many of these are just single wall with one or two routes at most.)

[edit] Mountain Biking
Not largely organized for reasons as stated above, availability of gear, support groups, etc. But being pursued by individuals based on either locally available modified cycles, or imported mountain bikes. A group of Puneites have an online presence.

[edit] Scuba Diving
Scuba diving and other adventure sports are played in the Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshdeep islands.

[edit] Others
KoozahngalThis is a game played in South Part of India.
Kho-KhoThis is an old game of speed and cunning involving many individuals. Mostly played by girls.SepaktakrawThis game is not that popular in India. Most people in India haven't heard of this game. After this game was included in the Asian games, it became better known. It is not sure whether India has a sepaktakraw team. Some evidence have been found from this website [1]. India has participated in Sepaktakraw competition in the 2006 Asian games. They have played many matches but lost all of them except for one. In the men's regu section India had beaten Iran 2-0.Basque PelotaBasque Pelota is rare in India, though India has a basque pelota federation, All India Pelota Vasca Federation.
FrizbeeFrizbee is non existent. [2]
American Football is non existent in India both in terms of viewership and profile.
Australian rules football Currently has a very small interest in India.[citation needed]