The current government is considering a yet another silly thing – to change the name of the country from India to Bharat! The invitations to a state dinner to mark India’s hosting of this year’s G20 came not, as you’d expect, from the office of the president of India, but from the “president of Bharat”. There’s a growing push among BJP MPs to adopt the name change, since “India” – the conventional English rendering of the country’s name – to some at least, symbolises “colonial slavery”. The nation of more than 1.4 billion people is officially known by two names, India and Bharat, but the former is most commonly used, both domestically and internationally.

Bharat is an ancient Sanskrit word which many historians believe dates back to early Hindu texts. The word also means India in Hindi. Given the Hindu-nationalist ideology of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and its push for increased use of Hindi, critics responded to the use of Bharat in the invites by suggesting the government was pushing for the name to be officially changed. Changing India’s name to only Bharat would require an amendment to the constitution which would need to be passed by a two-thirds majority in both houses of parliament.

The BJP has already renamed cities and places that were linked to the Mughal and colonial periods. Last year, for instance, the Mughal Garden at the presidential palace in New Delhi was renamed Amrit Udyan. Critics said the new names are an attempt to erase the Mughals, who were Muslims and ruled the subcontinent for almost 300 years, from Indian history.

India’s Chandrayaan-3 has landed on the moon’s south pole, making India the first country to reach that region. The successful moon mission has made India the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the lunar surface after the US, China, and the erstwhile Soviet Union. Parties and prayers were held with great fervour across the country ahead of the historic lunar touchdown. ISRO is live telecasting the landing event on its ISRO website. The Chandrayaan-3 mission was launched on July 14 from Sriharikota. The Vikram lander began its descent toward the moon surface at a velocity of 1.68 km per second. It then slowed down before beginning a powered vertical descent to the surface of the moon.

The real test of the mission began at the last leg of the landing. Prior to 20 minutes before landing, ISRO initiated Automatic Landing Sequence (ALS). It enabled Vikram LM to take charge and use its on-board computers and logic to identify a favourable spot and make a soft-landing on the lunar surface. Given the history of India’s second lunar mission, which failed during the last 20 minutes before landing, ISRO was extra-cautious this time in the process. Due to high risk to the spacecraft minutes before moon landing, the duration is dubbed by many as “20 or 17 minutes of terror”. During this phase, the whole process became autonomous, where Vikram lander ignited its own engines at the right times and altitudes.

The spacecraft’s Vikram lander made the soft landing at 6.04 PM (IST), ending the disappointment over the crash-landing of the Chandrayaan-2 lander four years ago. According to ISRO, the mission’s three objectives are to demonstrate a safe and soft landing on the lunar surface, to demonstrate a Rover roving on the Moon and to conduct in-situ scientific experiments.

India was the first country to mine diamonds

India was the source of diamonds were in the world from the 4th century BC for around 1000 years. The pure diamonds were found in the Krishna River Delta, located in Andhra Pradesh.

They are pioneers

As one of the oldest civilizations in the world, Indians gave the worlds a lot of important inventions and discoveries. You may don’t know, but chess is one of them, the king Balhait ordered an Indian brahmin to design a game to promote the intelligence of people. Wireless communication is another one, this innovation revolutionized the way we communicate by Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose.The wireless radio communication, which enables individuals to communicate quickly and transmit data over a distance without the electrical wires or cables.

India is the second largest English-speaking country in the world

Lastly, in our list of facts about India, did you know that India is the second largest country in the world that speaks English? So it is! English is the main language spoken in the country, apart from the 400 languages and dialects we have mentioned before.

India has one of the lowest percentage of population using the internet

Even though India also has the second largest number of internet users in the world, second only to China, the percentage of the population using the internet is among the lowest in the world, with only 48.7% of the population having access to it – well behind the world average of 64.4% (as of 2022).

Home of a mysterious skeleton lake

Located in the Himalayas at about 16,470 feet, the glacial Lake Roopkund has become famous for the human skeletons found in the lake and surrounding areas. It is thought that the skeletons are the remains of people from the 9^th century who perished during a severe hail storm.

India has 22 recognized languages

The numerous languages spoken across India include Santali, Kashmiri, Bengali, Tamil, and Urdu. However, the official languages are English and Hindi. India also has the world’s second-largest population of English speakers (first is the United States), since most Indians speak their own regional language as well as English for easier communication.

There are A LOT of holidays

In 2019, India recorded 26 official holidays, including Independence Day, Deepavali, Holi, and Christmas. The wide range of celebrations comes from the fact that so many different cultural groups are blended in the Indian population, leading to a plethora of holidays and festivals.

Around 70% of the world’s spices come from India

India is by far the largest producer of spices, which are shipped across continents to restaurants and kitchens worldwide. Some of the best-known spices are turmeric, cumin, saffron, and chili powders

I haven’t traveled international since the late 80s and I was a child back then. A few years ago I had to go to Delhi/Gurgaon from Kochi and my office booked an Air India flight for me. The plane felt like it was kept together by scotch tape and safety pins. The food was one half of a sandwich so cold, it must have been in the freezer, a box of juice and a tiny bottle of water. The airhostesses were my mom’s age and looked like they would scold me if I asked for anything, so I didn’t.

Earlier this year a UN DIplomat wrote about his flight on Air India as the worst flight experience ever. “As a UN diplomat, I’ve flown worldwide, but Air India 102 JFK to Delhi was my worst flight experience: broken seats, no entertainment/call buttons/reading lights, cockroaches! Poison spray. disregard for customer care,” the diplomat wrote on Twitter. It didn’t used to be like this – back in the 80s, when my family made quite a few international flights we loved them.

Also this year flight AI-112 made an emergency landing at the Jaipur airport on Sunday (June 25) because of bad weather conditions. The flight was scheduled to arrive in Delhi at 4 am. The flight later received clearance to resume the journey to Delhi however, the pilot refused to fly citing flight duty time limitations and duty hours. Taking to Twitter, Adit, one of the passengers, said on Sunday that passengers had not been assisted with any recourse to reaching their final destinations. And the saga seems to continue post 12 hours Air India! Still unorganised as ever. Passengers are hungry, tired, fatigued & frustrated with the inept service of what is meant to be a national airline.”

Another detailed blog post with tons of photos talk about the disater from check-in, boarding, mechanical issues which delayed the flight, unclean sheets, unclean bathrooms, in-flight equipment that look worse for wear and may or may not work and worst in class customer service for Business class.

The fort of Bhangarh is located 50 kilometers from the Sariska Sanctuary between the city of Jaipur and Alwar. The fort was constructed in the 17th century by Raja Madho Singh, the younger brother of the great Mughal general, Man Singh of Amber. Besides the royal palace, Bhangarh had over 9,000 houses until 1720 after which it gradually diminished in population. The Bhangarh fort along with the whole township was protected by three successive fortifications and five massive gates. The fort houses remnants of grand havelis, temples and deserted marketplaces within its premises, indicating the fort’s prosperity in its heydays. Thought to be a haunted place, Bhangarh fort nevertheless attracts hordes of tourists owing to its serene atmosphere, picturesque Aravalli Mountains and the architectural marvel that it is.

Inside the Bhangarh fort premises, one can find ruins of temples, palaces and havelis.

Bhangarh Fort is considered to be one of the most haunted places in India and is said to be cursed. There are several legends associated with the fort but there are two which are rather popular with the local population. The first legend is that of a sadhu named Baba Balau Nath. Long before the king Madho Singh decided to construct a fort in Bhangarh, the area was a meditating spot for Baba Balau Nath. The sadhu gave his permission for the construction of the fort on the condition that the fort or any building within shouldn’t be taller than his house and if the shadow on any structure fell upon his house, it would result in the annihilation of the fort town.

Ajab Singh, the grandson of Madho Singh, is said to have ignored this warning and greatly raised the height of the fort, the resulting shadow falling on the sadhu’s home, leading to destruction of the town. The other legend is associated with princess Ratnavati, who was very beautiful and had a number of suitors from the royal families of the country. A wizard, adept in black magic, fell in love with the princess. As the princess went shopping with her friends one day, the wizard saw her buying ittar (scent) and replaced the ittar with a love potion. The princess, however, came to know of the wizard’s trickery and threw the potion onto a boulder nearby.

This resulted in the boulder rolling towards the wizard and crushing him to death. But before being crushed to death, he cursed the city, stating that it would be destroyed soon and no would be able to live within its precincts. The kingdom was later sacked by the invading Mughal forces, killing all the inhabitants of the fort along with princess Ratnavati. As it is considered a haunted place the Bhangarh fort remains out of bound for visitors before sunrise and after sunset.

The Bhangarh fort in Rajasthan, although in ruins, still looks beautiful as it sits at the base of a hill amidst the serene and lusciously green surroundings. Visit the fort to see the ruins of a once magnificent kingdom.

1. Attempted suicide illegal, not if successful- section 309 of the Indian Penal Code makes sure that you are punished if you don’t do suicide right.

2. ‘Many’ laws for drinking- the legal drinking age varies from state to state.

3. One needs good teeth to become a motor vehicle inspector in Andhra Pradesh.

4. The unlucky lottery- chancing upon unclaimed money, amounting to more than Rs. 11, and failing to report the same to the local authority might result in prosecution.

5. The flying permit- the Indian aircraft act of 1934 considers a kite also to be an aircraft, thus making it necessary to get a permit to fly one.

6. Ignoring mass action against locusts which demands all residents of Delhi to answer to the beat of a drum, might get you fined.

7. Kapil Sibal’s censorship act- all offensive and provocative images from social media sites were banned to curb rape.

8. Indian telegraph act, 1885- with the advent of the internet and social media, the use of telegraph and thus, this act has been rendered moot.