The northern boundary of India is formed by the Himalayan mountains. The main Himalayan mountain range extends over a distance of about 2400 kilometers from the Indus valley in the west of the Brahmaputra valley in the east.

The width of the Himalayan mountains varies from 400 km. in the west to 150 km. in the east. The whole Himalayan system forms a wide are with its bulging side pointing towards the south. There are high snow covered peaks steep slopes, deep gorges and waterfalls in the mountainous region.

The Origin of the Himalayas

The Himalayas are young fold mountains which came in being rather in recent times in the history of the earth. They were formed as a result of folding and uplifting of sediments deposited in the Tethys sea. These folds were caused due to the coming closer of the Decan Plateu and North Asia.

Most of the Himalyan mountains consist of sedimentary rocks of recent origin. These mountain have several peaks exceeding 8000 metres in attitude. These peaks are permanently under snow and ice. Himalaya  means the Abode of snow.

In between the Pamir plateau and the Indo river and lying beyond the Himalyan is the Karrakoram Range. This range has several high peaks which are under permanent snow. Mount Godwin Austin or K2 is 8611 metres high and is the record highest peak in the world after Mount Everest.

The Karrkoran Pass is at height of 6000 metres. It also has many glaciers of which the Baltoro and the Hisper are more famous. Karrakoram is the most outstanding mountain range of Kashmir. The other important ranges of the Kashmir Himalaya are the Ladakh, the Zashkar and the Pirpanjal. The Valley of Kashmir is famous for its natural beauty all over the world.

Ranges of the Himalayas

The Himalayas proper is not just one range. It rather consists of three major ranges running parallel to one another in east, west direction. They are from north to south.

1. Great Himalayas
2. Lesser Himalayas
3. Outer Himalayas or Shiwalik range.

1. Great Himalayas or Himadri

The northernmost range is known as the Great Himalayas or Himadri. This is also known as the Inner Himalayas. This is the highest range of the Himalayas whose average height above sea level is about 6000 metres. It has many lofty peaks exceeding 8000 metres in height. The Mount Everest with an elevation of 8848 metres above sea level is the highest peak of the world.

The other important peaks of this mountain range are Kanchenjunga (8598 metres), Mokalu (8481 metres), Dhoulagiri (8172 metres), Naga Parbat (8126 metres), Annapurna (8078 metres), Nanda Devi (7816 meters) and Namoha Borwa (7756 metres). There are many glaciers in this snow clad range. Gangotri and the Yamnotri glaciers are the sources of the famous Ganga and Yamuna rivers.

2. Lasser Himalayas

South of the Great Himalayas or Himadri there are the lesser Himalayas or the Middle Himalayas. These are also known as the Himachal Himalayas. The average height of this range is about 5000 metres above sea level.

The Pirpanjal Range in Kashmir and the Dhar Range in Himachal Pradesh are a part of the Himachal ranges. There are many ridges and spass in this range on which some of the most popular hill resorts are located. Some outstanding hill stations are Mussorie, Nainital, Shimla and Darjeeling. These hill stations are easily accessible and attract large number of tourists.

3. Outer Himalayas or the Shiwalik Range

The southernmost range of the Himalayas, adjoining the Great Indo-Gangetic plain is Shiwalik Range or the outer Himalayas. It is not a continuous range and merges with the main mountains in the east. This is comparatively low range with an average height of about 1250 metres above sea level.

However it is well developed in the western part of the Himalayas. This range is made of recently formed sedimentary rocks and mud deposited by the rivers coming from the upper ranges of the Himalayas. Between the Shiwalik and the Himachal ranges lie narrow longitudinal valleys known as “Duns”. Dehra Dun is located in such a valley.

Towards the east of the Brahmaputra valley the Himalayas take a sudden southward turn and continue as Purvanchal or the eastern hills. Here the average elevation is less than 3000 metres and the hills are known b many local names. These are called Patkai, Bum and Naga hills on the north, Garo Khasi and Jaintia in the centre and Manipur, Aaxshai and Mizo hill in the south.

The most outstanding feature of the geological structure of India is its division into three broad geological regions. This is popularly known as the three-fold Physiographic division as mentioned below:

1. The Himalayan Mountain Chain
2. The North Indian Plain
3. The Peninsular Plateau.

The Himalayas in the northern part of India consist of a series of young folded mountains of bold relief and complex topography. They overlook the Great Plains of Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra.

To the south of this great plain is the Peninsular Plateau of old topography. The boundary between the Himalayan ranges and the Great Plain is well marked while that between te northern plain and the peninsular plateau is not very clear.

The Northern boundary of the Peninsular block may be taken as an irregular line running from Kuch along the western flank of the Aravalli Range of the neighbourhod of Delhi, and thence roughly parallel to the Yamuna and the Ganga as far as the Rajmahal hills and the Ganga Delta.

India becomes the fifth entity to join the global Moon club.

The tricolour was painted on all sides of the 29 kg Moon Impact Probe (MIP) which was attached to the top portion of the main lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan. The moon impact probe was the brainchild of former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

During its flight, its video camera took pictures of the Moon, the spectrometer began its analysis and the altitude meter did what is known as ranging.

Kalam’s rationale  believed that if this was done India could always stake a claim to portion of the Moon.

The MIP first transmitted its signal about its successful landing on the Moon about 3,86,000 km from the Earth.

Occasionally, a synclical depression which begin to form in the Uper Eocene, attained its maximum development during the third uplift of the Himalaya. Since then it has gradually been infilled with sediments.

The exact depth of alluvium has not been ascertained, but it varies from less than 1000 to over 2000 m. Underlying the alluvium are unconsolidated Siwalite and older Tertiary sediments of the Himalayan Piedmont and below these are more consolidated older formations, such as the Gondwanas and the Creataccous.

The depth is greater in the northern than in the southern sector. The depth of the alluvium considered to tbe about 4600m near its northern limit. The depth is at a maximum between Delhi and Rajmahal and Assam.

The floor of the Gangetic trough is not an even plain, but is corrugated by inequalities and buried ridges. The southern limit of the trough shows no structural peculiarities of features of any importance.

The geology and structure of India has influenced the physiography of the country. Because every geological age has its own physiography, the present surface features of India are the outcome, in a great measure by its geological history.

According to ISRO officials, Chandrayaan’s liquid engine was fired for 817 seconds when the spacecraft passed at a distance of about 500 km from the moon to reduce its velocity to enable to lunar gravity to capture it around the moon. Chandrayaan’s speed was reduced to 366 metres per second when it flew into the moon’s orbit.

The spacecraft is now around the moon in an elliptical is now around the moon in an elliptical orbit that passes over its polar region. The nearest point of this orbit lies at distance of about 504 km from the moon’s surface, while the farthest is 7,502 km.

Chandrayaan would take about 11 hours to go around the moon in this orbit.

Experts said it was a significant feat because India’s moonshot was successful in very first attempt something that even major space powers like the US and Russia could not achieve. The man who launched the Indian moon mission, Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, said, “It’s undoubtedly a great moment for India because nearly 50 percent of the moon missions of other countries have not been successful.”

Chandrayaan-1,  Rs 386 crore Indian moon mission launched from Sriharikota on October 22, will draw a three-dimenstional map of the moon, carrying out its chemical mapping and hunting for water or ice.

Kasturirangan said the lunar orbit insertion (LOI) was a nail biting moment because two objects the moon and Chandrayaan moving at a high speed had to have a successful rendezvous. At a certain point, the gravity of moon and that of earth cancel each other out, making LOI very challenging.

This is the first time that an Indian built spacecraft has broken away from the earth’s gravitational field and reached the moon. Scientists said after the Pokhran nuclear tests in May 1998, the moon mission was the greatest scientific accomplishment for India. ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair said, “We have done it. We have done it for the country. All the systems are working well.”

Altitude of the spacecraft will begradually reduced and the final orbit will be 100×100 km.

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) plans to use the technology for information and content delivery by 2009 and start an experimental multiple choice exam in 2010, where students will be given a set time for answering a question before moving on to the next.

If the project goes through, India would become one of the first countries after S Korea to use the mobile phones for education.

The reach of mobile phones is much higher than that of television and computers.  and mobiles will make education accessible to more people.

The conference will brig IGNOU and Communication and Manufacturing Association of India (CMAI) come together to devise strategies that will help take open and distance learning to a new level.

According to IGNOU officials, the university has given itself six months for creating mobile-compatible content and another year for starting pilot project offering examinations on mobile phones.

Examination over mobile will initially be a pilot project.

Undoubtedly India is a vast country even after its partition in 1947. Its lofty mountains, great rivers, rich fertile soils, vast mineral resources, forests and a host of other natural resources put India on a sound footing. India is the home of a vast ocean of humanity. The Indian Ocean washing its coasts offer large opportunities of trade and commerce with the distant lands. The geographical location of India has given her may advantages.

Boundaries of India

India is bounded by lofty Himalayas in the North and by the Indian Ocean on the remaining three sides. The Himalayan mountain range forms our northern boundary with China and the Himalayan Kingdom Nepal. Bhutan is a small Himalayan country. It is a buffer state between India and China and its defense responsibility is of India.

Our eastern border with Myanmar is formed by Arakan Yoma. Our borders with Bangladesh lie mostly in the lowlands of Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers. To the west of India, there is common border with Pakistan. Our total land frontier with our neighbouring countries measures 15,200 km.

The length of our coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal is 6100 km. If the coastline of Andaman and Nicobar as well as that of Lakshadweep group of islands is added the total length of the Indian coastline measure as much as 7516 km. Thus the total length of our frontiers is as much as going half way round the world. Across the Palk strait, is our neighbour Sri Lanka.

Thus India has all types of the countries as her neighbourers. On one hand we have a small country like Bhutan which is smaller than many small states of India. On the other end of the scale, there is China which is about three times larger than India. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar (former Burma) were once part of India and an entire area south of the Himalayas was known as The sub-continent.

Four states Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh are almost entirely located in the Himalaya. The northeastern states of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalya as well as parts of Assam are also located in hilly region.

The states of the Punjab Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal as well as the Union Territories of Delhi and Chandigarh are mainly located in the Northern Plains. Rajasthan includes a large part of the Thar Deset. Nine states and two Union Territories are coastal units.

They are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orrisa and West Bengal. The Union Territories touching the coast are Pondichery, Daman and Diu. Madhya Pradesh lies in the central part of India and cover a large part of the Great Indian Plateu.

Each state of the Indian Republic is divided into districts for administrative purposes. Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of 63 districts while Goa has only two. As many as 16 states share our international border with our neighbouring countries.

Out of these Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat touch our border with Pakistan in the west. Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh share our borders with China, Nepal and Bhutan in the North.

It is worth mentioning here that the state of Jammu and Kashmir has the common border both with Pakistan and China. The Indian borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh in the east are shared by border states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and West Bengal.

India holds a commanding position with respect to the Indian Ocean and central position in relation Asia, Africa and Australia. India enjoys a unique position in Oriental  world. The Oriental world includes the East coastal countries of Africa, South Asia and Australia. These countries are connected to India by Indian Ocean.

With a total area of 32,87,782 sq. km. India is the seventh largest country of the world accounting for about two per cent of the total land area of the earth. Many of our states are bigger than several countries of Europe, Central America and Africa. The mainland of India extends from 8 degree longitude to 37 degree 6’ latitudes and from 68 degree 7’ Eb. 97 degree 25’ E longitudes.

The country extends for 3214 km in North-South direction and for 2933 km. in East-West direction. The Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of the country dividing it into two halves. The part of India lying south of the Tropic of Cancer is in the tropical zone while that north of it is in the sub-tropical zone.

In addition to the mainland, there are groups of islands in the Indian Ocean, which are parts of our country. One group is the Andaman and Nicobar Islands the Bay of Bengal. The Islands of this group are fairly large both in size and number.

Another group of islands is located off the coast of Kerala. This is Lakshadweep group of islands. Most islands belonging to this group are small in size and corul in nature.

The Andman and Nicobar group of islands is only four degrees north of equator. This is so near the equator that the sun is almost vertical here all the year round.

The maximum difference between the length of the day and night is only 45 minutes. On the other hand, the northern most parts of India have always oblique rays of the sun. Here the maximum difference between days and nights may be as large as five hours.

There is another very important aspect of the large size of the country. The maximum longitudinal extent of India is about 30 degree. We all know that the local time of a place is directly related to its longitude. The earth completes one rotation around its axis in one day.

In other words it covers 360 degree in 24 hours. This comes out to be four times for every 1 degree of longitude or one hour for 15 degree of longitudes. As there is a difference of 30 degree longitude between the easternmost point in Arunachal Pradesh and Dwarka in Gujarat the difference of local time of these two places is about two hours.

If each and every place follows its own local time, it will create a lot of confusion regarding radio and television programmes, air flights and railway time table etc. in order to avoid this type of confusion regarding time, the 82 degree 30’ E longitude is taken as the Standard Meridian of India.

The local time along this meridian is taken as the Indian Standard Time (IST) for each and every place in the entire country. The Indian Standard Time is five and a half hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) based on 0 degree longitude.

Pushyamitra was also a champion of Brahmanism. . The sun (surya) and fire (agni) began to be worshiped. The old Hindu sacrifices and ceremonies such as Asvamedha and Vajapeya were revived. Great encouragement was given to the study and writing of Sanskrit.

Pushyamitra lived to a ripe old age. His reign covers about 36 years, and he died in 149 B.C.

After the death of Pushyamitra, his son Agnimitra, came to the throne.

He was fairly advanced in age when he came to the throne. Very little is known about the details of his reign. He was succeeded by his son Sujeshtha whose reign is very insignificant in the history of the Sunga period.

Vasumitra

The next great successor of Agnimitra was Vasumitra. He was the same Vasumitra who had fought a battle on the river Sindhu against the Yavanas i.e., the Greeks. He was a great patron of art learning. It is said that he was put to death in a theatre by Mitradeva, probably his minister.

Bhaga

The next well-known king of this dynasty was Bhaga or Bhagavata or Bhagbhadra, the ninth Sunga King. His reign lasted for 32 years.

During Bhaga’s reign friendly relations between the Indo-Greeks and the Sungas were firmly established. His reign is also noted for the revival and popularity of the Bhagavata cult.

Devabhuti

The last Sunga king (the tenth) was Devabhuti or Devabhumi. He was a worthless ruler and a man of licentious habits. His minister (Amatya) a Kanva Brahman named Vasudeva, took advantage of his weakness and unpopularity and got him murdered.