Vande Mataram

Vande Mataram (IAST: Vande Mātaram, also pronounced Bande Mataram; transl. Mother, I bow to thee) is a poem written in Sanskrit by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee in 1870s, which he included in his 1882 Bengali novel Anandamath. The poem was first sung by Rabindranath Tagore in the 1896 session of the Indian National Congress. The first two verses of the song were adopted as the National Song of India in October 1937

Vaisakhi

Vaisakhi (IAST: vaisākhī), also pronounced Baisakhi, is observed by Hindus and Sikhs. It also marks the beginning of Hindu solar New year. Vaisakhi marks the first day of the month of Vaisakha, is usually celebrated on 13 or 14 April every year and is a historical and religious festival in Hinduism and Sikhism. This holiday is also known as Vaisakha Sankranti and celebrates the Solar new year,

Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand, (Hindi pronunciation: ) (/ˌʊtəˈrɑːkʌnd/; lit. ‘Northern Land’), formerly known as Uttaranchal (/ˌʊtəˈrɑːntʃəl/), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the “Devabhumi” (literally “Land of the Gods”) due to numerous Hindu temples and pilgrimage centres found throughout the state. Uttarakhand is known for the natural environment of the Himalayas, the Bhabar and the Terai regions. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north;

Upper house

An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted power than the lower house. A legislature composed of only one house (and which therefore has neither an upper house nor a lower house) is described

United Progressive Alliance

United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is a coalition of predominantly centre-left political parties in India formed after the 2004 general election. The largest member party of the UPA is the INC, whose President Sonia Gandhi is chairperson of the UPA. It formed a government with support from some other left-aligned parties in 2004, after no single party could get the majority on its own. Contents   1History 2Current membership

United Front (India)

The United Front was a coalition government of 13 political parties formed in India after the 1996 general elections. The coalition formed two governments in India between 1996 and 1998. The government was headed by two Prime Ministers from Janata Dal – H. D. Deve Gowda, and I. K. Gujral. Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party served as the convener of United Front. Background The Indian general election in 1996 returned a

United Arab Republic

The United Arab Republic (UAR; Arabic: الجمهورية العربية المتحدة‎ al-Jumhūrīyah al-‘Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 to 1971. It was initially a political union between Egypt (including the occupied Gaza Strip) and Syria from 1958 until Syria seceded from the union after the 1961 Syrian coup d’état — leaving a rump state. Egypt continued to be known officially as the United Arab Republic until 1971. The republic

Oral tradition

Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. The transmission is through speech or song and may include folktales, ballads, chants, prose or verses. In this way, it is possible for a society to transmit oral history, oral literature, oral law and other knowledge across generations without a writing system, or in parallel

Irreligion in India

Atheism and agnosticism have a long history in India and flourished within the Śramaṇa movement as well as Vedic Schools of philosophy like Mimansa etc . Indian religions like Jainism and Buddhism and Hinduism consider atheism to be acceptable. India has produced some notable atheist politicians and social reformers. According to the 2011 Census of India, 99.76% of Indians identified with a religion while 0.24% did not state their religious identity. According to the 2012

United Nations peacekeeping

Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peace Operations as “a unique and dynamic instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace”. It is distinguished from peacebuilding, peacemaking, and peace enforcement although the United Nations does acknowledge that all activities are “mutually reinforcing” and that overlap