Dances of India

Dance	State
Bharat Natyam	Tamil Nadu
Bihu	Assam
Bhangra	Punjab
Garhwali	Uttaranchal
Garba	Gujarat
Kathak	North India
Kathakali	Kerala
Kutchipudi	Andhra Pradesh
Karma	Madhya Pradesh
Laho	Meghalaya
Mohiniattam	Kerala
Mando	Goa
Manipuri	Manipur
Nati	Himalayas
Nat-Natin	Bihar
Odissi	Orissa
Rauf	J & K
Yakshagan	Karnataka

The National Emblem

Our national emblem has been taken from Ashoka’s lion pillar of Sarnath. It has four lions with open mouth. But we can see only three of them at a time. There is a wheel under the lions. On the left of the wheel there is a horse and to its right is a bull. The words “Satyameva Jayate” are written below the wheel. These words mean ‘Truth Alone Triumphs’. The national emblem can be seen on all government letters, stamps and currency notes.

Rakesh Sharma

 

Rakesh Sharma was the first Indian to go into the space. He was born on January 14, 1949 in Patiala, Punjab. When he grew up, he joined Indian Air Force. He went into space with two Soviet cosmonauts ia a spacecraft named Soyuz T-II. When our Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi asked him about our country, his reply was, “Saare Jahan Se Achcha ”. He was awarded Ashoka Chakra for the successful completion of the space mission.

Fundamental Rights

The constitution of India offers all citizens of India some basic freedoms. These are guaranteed in the constitution in the form of fundamental rights. These are as follows :

i. The right to equality
ii. The right to freedom
iii. The right against exploitation
iv. The right to freedom to religion
v. Cultural and educational rights
vi. The right to constitutional remedies

The right to property used to be a fundamental right but 42^nd amendment of the constitution reduced this right to the status of a legal right only.

During an emergency period these rights can be suspended.

INDIA

India, also known as Bharat or Hindustan is the seventh largest and second most populous country in the world.

India lies in the continent of Asia. It has a land frontier of 15,200 kilometrea and a coastline of 7,516.6 kilometres, including the main land’s coastline as well as that of Indian islands.

India holds about 16 percent of the world’s population though it has only 2.42 percent of the earth’s surface.

India is divided into 28 states and 7 Union territories.

New Delhi is the capital of India.

The Great Indian Desert

The Great Indian Desert lies to the west of the Northern Plains. It is also known as the Thar Desert.

The Great Indian Desert stretches from the Aravalli hills in the east to the border of Pakistan in the west and from Rann of Kachchh in the south-west to the border of Haryana. The Great Indian Desert is partly rocky and partly sandy. It has many low sand hills called sand dunes. These sand dunes keep on moving as a result of strong dust storms.

The Great Indian Desert receives little rainfall. Some areas do not get rain at all for many years. There are no permanent rivers. The only river that flows through this desert it the Luni. It is a seasonal river and dries up soon in the summer. So there is always a shortage of water.

During summer, the days are very hot but nights are cold because the sand cools down quickly after sunset. During winter, the days are generally warm but the nights are very cold.

During summer, dust storms are very common. Due to shortage of water, people have to walk many kilometres to bring water from wells. So, life in the desert is very difficult.

However, in some places, the underground water comes to the surface and forms big pools. Such a place is called an oasis. The water from oases is used to grow crops. Trees like date palm, kikar, babool and cactus also grow near the oases.