Talk:India/Archive 3

message: I think its not a bad idea to mention a few lines on the Indian military in the Government section. -- 21:09, 4 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Military of India 

message: I think that the Holidays list be annual and updated anually since the dates change annually. I have also added this holi image. thumb|"Celebration of Spring by Krishna and Radha," 18th Century miniature; in the Guimet Museum, Paris --Electron Kid 02:08, 27 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Holidays 

message: *IPA: bɦəːɾət̪h OR
*Dictionary: bhα:rət
=Nichalp «Talk»= 11:28, 5 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pronounciation of Bharat 

message: Some one just added Kumar Kaushik to the India article. But who is he? I did a google search and have not yet found him. Please add a reference about him. -- Ganeshk 21:44, 8 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Who is Kumar Kaushik?

message: An anon added that Indian literature is the oldest in the world. I have some doubts about that, so far as I can remember, the Epic of Gilgamesh is from 2100 BC. Indian literature may be "one of the oldest", but it is certainly not "the" oldest. Thanks. --Ragib 21:58, 8 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Indian Literature 

message: I think we should find a picture of a tribal dance from either Nagaland, Manipur, or Mizoram. It will show some unexpected diversity in India.
:I fully agree. I've also asked on a Nagaland site for a free image, but unfortunately as with all India-related sites we get a 'no response'.  =Nichalp «Talk»= 05:58, 12 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Northeast India 

message: "A sizeable number of Hindus (almost entirely in the cities) also eat beef, though not so openly"  -  I request you to remove 'almost entirely in the cities' from the above sentence as this is not true.  People generally relish Chicken than beaf in cities.Subramanya
*Fixed. Now removed. =Nichalp «Talk»= 07:07, 19 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Its not strange. Its a summary of India's culture. You can add it to Culture of India. =Nichalp «Talk»= 04:32, 1 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Culture 

message: I removed this link from the top section, but didn't transfer it to external links because I'm not sure how appropriate it is. It seems to be more focused on Pakistan history with some coverage of the surrounding countries.  Furthermore, I'd like someone with more knowledge of the region to review it for political agendas. Jasmol 17:49, 18 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  History of India link 

message: This article needs more work. Please feel free to improve on it and add to article. Shyamal 11:38, 1 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Please direct such issues to Wikipedia talk:Notice board for India-related topics. This page is the India article only. =Nichalp «Talk»= 12:26, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

text: Sorry, I meant, a section on the same could be added to the India article. Shyamal 03:34, 2 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: A line or two in the geography section can't hurt. =Nichalp «Talk»= 03:58, 2 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Fauna and flora of India]] 

message: Why is there a final 'a' in "Ganarājy" and not "Bhārat"?  Should it not be "Bhārata Gaṇarājya"?  Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 23:23, 1 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Anyone? :D Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 13:11, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

text: My browser is picking up an unrecognized character ṇ between the "Bhārata Ga" and the "arājya". This may have been something done in cutting and pasting. --G. Moore 23:39, 15 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: No, that's the correct transliteration for 'ण'.  You'll probably need to install correct fonts for your browser.  Have you tried Code 2000 or Arial Unicode MS? IE is a bit crappy at selecting the right font, so you might wish to use Firefox to see it.  Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 11:47, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bhārat Ganarājya 

message: :In the article, Meaning of this statement is written as written as "Truth Alone Triumphs"
I think It should be "Truth only Triumphs"
Does anyone object?? - Shilpa Choudhari
:No, "Truth Alone Triumphs" is correct. =Nichalp «Talk»= 12:33, 2 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Satyamev Jayate

message: In 1757 the troops of the the British East India Company seized Bengal and plundered the Bengali treasure. The British East India Company monopolized the trade of Bengal. The Bengali craftsmen were inevitably fixed at foreign posts of the Company, where they were obliged to render their labor at minimal compensation while their collective tax burden increased harshly. The result was the famine of 1769 to 1773 in which 10 million Bengalis died, followed almost a century later by the catastrophic Great Calamity period, resulting in part from an extension of similar policies, in which up to 40 million Indians perished from famine amidst the collapse of India's native industries and skilled workforce.
That is true History. Don't rv Ben-Velvel 12:47, 2 December 2005, St.Petersburg (UTC)
:Did you read this above: All sections are a summary of more detailed articles. If you find any points missing, please add it in the section's main article rather than on this page to keep this page size within reasonable limits. So it will be reverted even if it is true. --Pamri • Talk 17:05, 2 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Bengal Famine of 1769-1773 and the great Calamity period.  

message: Is there a good reason why the notes and references sections are at the end of the article instead of before External links, according to Wikipedia:Manual of Style (headings)? Just curious. --Jtalledo (talk) 04:58, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The MoS is just a guideline, mentioning the preferred structure. References are usually at the end of any encyclopedia, so its ok here.  =Nichalp «Talk»= 07:07, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Headers 

message: This map incorrectly depicts the section of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) as being part of Pakistan. It should be noted that The entire Jammu and Kasmir is a sovereign part of India. Please upload a map that correctly depicts the borders.
Thanks.
-From amitroy5
I have to agree with that. The map of India is done from an "American" perspective. We have to remember that America's view is also biased. I think that China and Pakistan occupied Kashmir should be labled as such. Also, the disputed mark for Arunachal Pradesh should be removed because no country other than China sees it that way. Plus, the whole state is under Indian rule. This article is about India, and it should be written from an Indian perspective, not in an American perspective.
-From amitroy5
:No, it's written from a neutral perspective. Mark1 00:41, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: No.  The Chinese perspective is that AP belongs to China, not that ownership is disputed. That ownership is disputed is a neutral fact. Mark1 00:50, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

text: A google search will throw up the relevent results. The map, supported by the footnotes and the appripriate colouring is perfectly fine. =Nichalp «Talk»= 04:13, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

text: Please see Wikipedia:Neutral point of view. It is not an American perspective. We have to mark all territories which are claimed. China regards AP as its soverign territory. We have to mark the region as Claimed by China, administered by India. It is an easily verifiable fact. =Nichalp «Talk»= 09:03, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

text: Read this.  Hopefully it will clear things up for you. Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 20:52, 30 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: The United States way? How about the way 'the rest of the world' does? The Pakistan article on wiki doesn't even have a proper map, just a grey-green map marking the location of the country in the region. The 'ethnic groups in Pakistan map' shows that the Kashmir border is disputed. --Soman 21:02, 30 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Map of India is wrong! 

message: -Key parts of Indian history, the Aryan invasion, the invasion of the Persian Empire, and the arrival of Alexander the Great are left out of the history section. The Persian Empire isnt even in the History article. As key periods of India's history, these should be included. Every time I add them, they get erased. I dont care what some fucked up Hindu nationalists think, an Aryan invasion did happen, they did not brind Hinduism with them, they made it with the Dravidians once they settled down. Theres genetics to prove. Give me a break.
-a historian
::Please also see the top of this page
:Please see Wikipedia:Neutral point of view. -- ran (talk) 03:04, 7 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Please see the footnote at the bottom of the page. =Nichalp «Talk»= 04:03, 7 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Aryan Invasion

message: What is the percentage of the non-religious of India's population?
--204.60.171.230 17:33, 7 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Most people in India who do classify themselves as atheists generally put down the religion they were born to during the census. The exact breakup though is not available from the Indian census site. It seems to be classified under "others'. =Nichalp «Talk»= 04:40, 8 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Agnotheism 

message: Friends, there is a swiss-german admin of wikipedia called Dbachmann User: Dbachmann who holds deep hatred of Hindus and Indians in his psyche, for reasons best known to him only. He has been vandalizing any good article edits which even mildly favorable to Hindus. In place of that he spreads lies like Bhagvad-Geeta was written after Jesus christ's times and so on.
He was unknown to most Indian wikipedians till he tried to mess up the Rajput article. A cursory glance of his contributions on wikipedia convinced us to report this guy to other admins. He deserves to be banned from wikipedia altogether, and at the very least his admin previledges needs to be revoked. We have filed a complained against him. Here is a link to that.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/Dbachmann_%282%29
All self respecting Indians are called upon to go to this link and sign the petition. A complete list of charges against this user can be found in the petition.
Thanks everybody
Sisodia
Your A Call To Arms is chauvinistic, xenophobic and myopic. Most experienced Indian wikipedians know Dab pretty well, and has been helping out on the History of India for a long time now. Dab does provide verifible sources, so I doubt that that it is his personal research. Please familiarise yourself with the wikisystem, and get credible and updated sources before you launch an RFC. Regards =Nichalp «Talk»= 04:04, 24 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  A Call To Arms 

message: Template:MalayalamScript has been nominated for deletion. You are invited to comment on the discussion at Wikipedia:Templates for deletion#Template:MalayalamScript. Thank you. Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 18:51, 28 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Please place such requests in the Notice board for India-related topics. This page is for the India article only. =Nichalp «Talk»= 04:51, 29 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  TfD nomination of Template:MalayalamScript 

message: I'm willing to make a compromise on this. I like how China did its map. We should color code the map. We should write the following examples and label my color coding:
Claimed by India, administered by China;
Claimed by India, administered by Pakisatn;
Claimed by Pakistan, administered by India;
Claimed by China, administered by India
: That's the most informative and encyclopedic way to do it. -Pgan002 09:11, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Willing to Compromise on Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh 

message: ::I have added a Link to Blog site http://indiangals.blogspot.com/ The Purpose of this blog site is to give a profile of Indian girls who have performed well in Sports, career, cinema and many other feilds of life. This is not a Adult related site. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 59.144.33.178 (talk • contribs) .
:::I have reverted your change. We will end up with a huge list of external links if this is allowed. You can add it to a new article related to that subject if you want. - GaneshkT/C\@ 20:07, 11 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I checked up the site. "This is not a Adult related site." Ha Ha. - GaneshkT/C\@ 20:20, 11 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: External Links

message: please standardize maps to reflect the indian version of the Kashmir dispute, as is stipulated by the Govt. of India. The Pakistan country page is free to use their version of the map. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Pizzadeliveryboy (talk • contribs) .
:Interesting viewpoint. The India article doesn't belong to Indians solely, nor does the Pakistan article belong to Pakistanis. I don't understand why each country page should reflect that country's version of the map ... Wikipedia is not an Indian or Pakistani Govt site. This encyclopedia belongs to the world, should reflect issues as perceived from a neutral point of view. Thanks. --Ragib 23:10, 11 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Reverted your map change. As Ragib said, this is NPOV. - GaneshkT/C\@ 00:01, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

text: Please refrain from making comments based on people's origins. If you want, check out my contributions. And please, sign your comments by using ~~~~ after your comments. Thanks. --Ragib 07:53, 13 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Map

message: The changes have been made in both pre colonial histories of India and Pakistan.
India and Pakistan were formed in 1947. Thats just 50+ and certainly not ancient. India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh are all third world countries, with shared histories and cultures. It's stupid for India and Pakistan to crib about 'My culture' and 'My History'.
Changes are more in Pakistan article, as whoever wrote that article seems too much bent upon proving that Pakistan was never a part of India. India and Pakistan were never together, technicaly they never could have been. Guys GET OVER IT. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Cyberwizmj (talk • contribs) .
get over it?? ok burn up all our text books??
y dont u ppl get over christ saving our heathens n stuff?? Bijun 10:02, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ancient??????????????? 

message: I suggest that a common ancient histroy page be created. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Cyberwizmj (talk • contribs) .
india and pakistan were together they were bought together by the mughal empire then during the british rule they STAYED together the partition occured because jinah was anxious that muslims would not be represnted equally and therfore requested a partition with india. gandhi agreed to partition because he wanted to avoid a civil war in india from occuring.
:First: the name India was given to the subcontinent by the ancient greeks - so the name has been around for atleast 2500 years, or even more. We have adopted the european version of the name of the nation for historical reasons. Moreover, the people living within what the Greeks called India have consistently been a culturally homogenous unit since the time Alexander came in here....may be not politically, but culturally, India has been a nation for that period of time.
:So ya, India is ancient - get over that!!!
:Pizzadeliveryboy 15:07, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Too much to edit. 

message: I've replaced the footer templates with Template:India ties. Such templates on country articles have been deprecated for some time, after lengthy discussions at Wikipedia:Wikiproject Countries. Since most countries belong to at least a half dozen international organizations, which creates quite a mess at the bottom of articles when a box is added for each. Since my knowledge of India is very limited, I recommend you to make changes to improve this template. (See also United Kingdom and Canada for examples). CG 20:28, 13 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The new template needs work before it can go into the article. So I had to revert your change. I will work on merging the templates later today. - GaneshkT/C\@ 20:35, 13 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Template:India ties]] 

message: Most of the changes have to do with punctuation and sentence construction.
I have replaced "delta islands" with archipelago, which is what the Sunderbans is.
Added a ref. to PV Narsimha Rao
The counterpart of economic size in terms of PPP is GNP.
the sentence regionally as well as globally is correct and could be used, but does not fit into the sentence construction properly even in the older version - hence removed, but can be reinstated if propely constructed.
The Sepoy Mutiny is also called the Sepoy Rebellion (BBC), though Indians call it the 1st war of independence.
The sentence on Mahatma Gandhi leading the independence movement was mangled. Split it for easier reading.
Need to use caps for describing the features of the Indian Constitution.
Expanded on the Emergemcy a wee bit, with a date.
BPO and Software are service industries
Pongal and Onam are celebrated in their resp states.
removed ref to Indian Cricket Team - more appropriate in a seperate article.
A prev version had the foll:
In 1977, a united opposition, under the banner of the Janata Party, won the election and formed a non-Congress government for a short period after the unpopular 'emergency rule' imposed by Indira Gandhi in the previous Congress regime.
First there is no explicit mentioning of the lifting of emergency. Moreover, I think the use of unpopular is a mild POV. So played around with construction, thats all.
Pizzadeliveryboy 20:20, 18 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  some changes 

message: I have changed the links for India's national bird and flower to the specific species
Pizzadeliveryboy 16:25, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  change in links 

message: Happy Indian Republic Day 2006 to all!!! --195.229.241.187 13:22, 26 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Republic Day 2006 

message: The use of "granting" implies that the British willingly, on their own accord, gave up India (and thereby 'mutually consented' in 'according a previlege or favor' to the Indians - see dictionary for correct meaning of the verb 'to grant'), without any due credit to the Indian independence movement. This is untrue since there is a long history of struggle on several fronts, which eventually led to the people of India succeeding in gaining (thereby, acquiring (through struggle)) their independence from the British.
Pizzadeliveryboy 16:50, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  granting vs. gaining 

message: How many does India have? The info table states "Hindi, English, and 21 other languages" whereas the number rises to 24 at List_of_national_languages_of_India#Recognized_national_languages_of_India_.28Scheduled_list_for_official_use.29 --Wotan 05:21, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: French is not an official language of the Indian Union. =Nichalp «Talk»= 08:49, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Official Languages 

message: The map of India that has been shown on this site is erroneous. This is so because the occupied Kashmir part has been painted in the same colour as that of Pakistan. I would like to say that this is a serious discrepency since the Pakistan occupied Kashmir is still not recognised as the part of Pakistan. The official line is that Kashmir is an integral part of India. It can be depicted as a disputed part but showing it as a part of Pakistan is not acceptable.61.246.165.179 04:24, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The mentioned part is administered by Pakistan. =Nichalp «Talk»= 04:46, 31 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  The disputed areas should be coloured differently; this is the most informative and encyclopedic approach. -Pgan002 09:14, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Look at how Pakistan and China portray their maps. Pizzadeliveryboy 15:12, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Hashed lines would be the best to represent Kashmir and AP. The maps need to be updates since wikipedia is moving to SVG based maps rather than standard png ones. =Nichalp «Talk»= 03:45, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Discripencies in the map of India. 

message: The new emblem is actually correct one (it has the motto below the figure, which the earlier one lacked), though the saffron color is a little suggestive. Does anyone have an image like the earlier version, but with the motto subscribed below, and of a higher resolution (the earlier version was too small, and when force-fitted in the template, led to a loss of resolution)??
:I believe the first one is a prank. I had originally uploaded the correct emblem with the Satyamev Jayatate inscription, but it seems to have been altered. I have reuploaded. Note that India's emblem is monochrome. Eventually we would be moving to an svg version of the emblem. =Nichalp «Talk»= 04:11, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  emblem 

message: I have reinstited some classical dance forms and classified them into south and north. all of these are patronized by Sangeet Natak Akademi and several other classical art institutions of a national level. I am not sure of Yakshaganga, but someone can verify.
As far as festivals, need to include non-hindu ones too, esp of the phrase melting pot in the beginning of the para has to have any meaning. Pongal and Onam are local south indian fests, much like GC and DP.
Pizzadeliveryboy 14:52, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: True, but we simply can't list all dances and festivals out here. I'll leave it to you to cut it down. =Nichalp «Talk»= 18:31, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  I guess keeping some south and some north indian items would be balanced. Same applies to festivals tooPizzadeliveryboy 00:08, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Some, but having more than six is absurd. =Nichalp «Talk»= 12:27, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  last edit 

message: The national bird of India is the male variety of the species Pavo cristatus. The common name of the bird is peafowl, but only the male species has been granted the honor.
Please check National Bird of India search entry in Google.
Pizzadeliveryboy 15:06, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  national bird 

message: Wondering y cuisine and culture are in the same section. Also there is no mention of folk or classical art (painiting/sculpture) - only cinema, dance and music is present. The section should actually be Art and Culture, and cuisine/eating habits/staple diet should be another section, not in culture.Pizzadeliveryboy 00:17, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: As per wikipedia:WikiProject countries, cuisine & arts is included under the =Culture= section. =Nichalp «Talk»= 05:23, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  cuisine and culture 

message: Wondering what are the official languages of India? How many are there, and which ones? Are all state recog off languages also off languages of the Republic of India. What about Part XVII of the Indian constitution? Any pointers to sites outside wikipedia which point to the exact number of official (not recognized) languahes?
Pizzadeliveryboy 00:32, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: 22: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Sindhi, Konkani, Manipuri, Nepali, Bodo, Maithili, Dogri and Santhali. English enjoys associate official status. 
--source; Manorama Yearbook 2006, pg 507, 
=Nichalp «Talk»= 12:24, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  official languages of India 

message: Considering that the culture section has distinct paras on dance, music, art and cuisine, all relevant main pages should be listed in the main article section, instead of the see also secPizzadeliveryboy 17:47, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: No, the main article is Culture of India. All other articles are linked as main in that article. =Nichalp «Talk»= 18:56, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Culture sec 

message: Using numerals for numbers makes sense since its shorter, easier to be caught while just glancing thru text, and if we stdize this across the article, the length of the article will go outta hand!!!
Pizzadeliveryboy 18:50, 6 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Please note: I have only changed the 'number as a word' in the lead! The lead is supposed to ease a reader into the topic. 7,000 is an approximation of the coastline length, and so can be written as a word. It is easier to read such words in the lead and keeps it clean. =Nichalp «Talk»= 06:38, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  My point is this - If you are including information in the lead of an article, the purpose is to catch the instant attention of the roving eye - esp if the reader is out looking for statistics to hold his/her attention to. This is the reason why you have a infobox right at the beginning of the article - to get all statistics (numbers) in one place. And as far I understand it, a numeral representation (4 digits) is easily more succinct, and easier to catch within reams of text than a full wordy representation, never mind whether the stat is approximate or not.Pizzadeliveryboy 15:14, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: No, as any good copyeditor worth his salt will tell you, this is not done for such cases as numerals look jarring. =Nichalp «Talk»= 15:59, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  use numerals 

message: Can you please change the picture of the Flag which has been vandalized.
Thanx
:When you say the picture has been vandalized, how exactly has it been vandalized? Green Giant 21:37, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Flag vandalism 

message: All reference to Afghan invasions refer to incidents involving Pashtun peoples. The incidents involving C Asian and Persian rulers involve Turkic and Persian peoples (themselves distinct), which is different from the former. Hence, they are generally classified as Muslim invasions.Pizzadeliveryboy 13:41, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  ambiguity between C Asian and Persian vs Afghan invasions 

message: Is there an official national costume for India? I seriously doubt if it's there. How about a national calendar? If these are not official, they need to be removed from the table of national symbols. -- Sundar \talk \contribs 11:35, 9 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I dont think there is a national costume, though sari is generally accepted as one for the ladies!!! Yes the government does accept the Saka era as the national calendar, though the Gregorian calendar is accepted as an equal.Pizzadeliveryboy 13:43, 9 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Thanks. I'm removing Sari from that list until someone cites a source to favour its inclusion. -- Sundar \talk \contribs 09:51, 20 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: What is the purpose of this section - to promote Indian traditional dresses, or to document the current and past general trends in apparel amongst Indians?Pizzadeliveryboy 15:22, 20 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  National costume? 

message: SVP Jayanti is not a national holiday, and Diwali is a religious one.Pizzadeliveryboy 00:12, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  national holidays 

message: ...is an article listing some book sources on India for the interested persons. As it is not an encyclopedic topic, it would be better to delete that article and move the content to India article. Since India is a featured article (and I don't know how to delete an article), I am requesting to major contributors here to give this idea a thought. Thanks. Ashish G 19:01, 14 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Further reading on India]] 

message: I have removed the topic in demographics which included affirmative action. One reason is that the Constitution only provides for the setting up of educational institutes by minorities. Reservations were supposed to last for only 10 years when introduced by Ambedkar. The reservations are based on sops introduced by the government. =Nichalp «Talk»= 04:41, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for the clarification, Nichalp. Even I felt uneasy about those statements as I was trying to fix the flow in an anon's addition. -- Sundar \talk \contribs 04:55, 10 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Affirmative action 

message: Would any editors who have native or resident knowledge of India care to comment on recent edits to this article? I remove the review sections as well as the external links; the original author feels that the links are important.  My problem is that I have no sense of how notable the sites mentioned are. If they are as notable as Craigslist and/or meet WP:CORP, then I'd say that they merit their own articles and should be internally linked. Thoughts? OhNoitsJamieTalk 23:21, 11 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Bechna, Rediff, Craigslist, Sulekha and Times are notable. Agreatindian isn't. - Ganeshk (talk) 23:45, 11 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Indian Online Classifieds Industry]]

message: The caste system has been systematicallty ignored and then deleted. India cannot be considered a democracy when there exists such an apartheid institution that violates the very basic principle of human rights. The 'untouchables' or haryana are a realiy and murdered. Get real and mention the cast system Trompeta 11:33, 12 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I had made an edit to remove a reference to the caste system from a sentence about India being a democracy with the comment "Caste system is social while voting is political. Can have social inequality w/in a democracy so suggest caste info be added to another section". While I stand by this comment, I agree that the caste system has not received the coverage it deserves both as a historical and current force in India--however I think these comment would belong in a 'Society' section showing how Indian society has changed over time and how caste has been an important social force that shape the lives of many (especially rural) people. Here are a few pages that seem to offer a fair background on the caste system in India if not an authoritative source of information:   If you don't agree with the particular edit I made, I'd suggest you make comments in Talk referencing commonly accepted definitions of democracy. As far as I can tell, most Political Scientists and Historians agree that India has been a long standing democracy. See for example: . Based on this template it looks like a 'culture' section might be more appropriate although in my opinion something like  Pakistan's 'culture and society' would be more appropriate. Antonrojo 14:29, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

text: I'm not sure as to what you mean by there exists such an apartheid institution that violates the very basic principle of human rights? The caste system is mentioned under: Language, religion, and caste are determinants of social and political organisation within the highly diverse population. The article is a summary, no need to get into specifics. =Nichalp «Talk»= 14:39, 12 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I can't claim much knowledge of Indian history, however both references to caste in the article mention it in passing and make it sound like a problem of the past. I have mixed feelings about adding information on caste. If it really is a factor that leads to inequality in the lives of many Indians I think it should be discussed more critically and/or in more detail. At the same time, I recognize that others would point out that race is a major determinant of social and economic outcomes in the United States (the country I happen to call home) and I don't know that references to the US as a 'racist country' would be appropriate in that article although they would belong in an "American Society" section IMHO. At the least I think caste should be mentioned in a sub-article on Indian history and society which also discusses the effect of the imposition of English culture and social systems on India's history and society (the first reference I list above gives some interesting background on this). Also, I added a link to the definition of caste in the article, should a reader not be sure what it is or of its history. Antonrojo 15:05, 12 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Caste discrimination is not prevalent all over India. It is prevalent in most states though. There are other forms of discrimination too. If we get in to a debate on the caste system and reservations here, the article will deviate from the core Indian theme. =Nichalp «Talk»= 05:19, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

text: OK, I am not an expert. The cast system is not political in the sense that it is not defined in any constitutional terms. However, it is a central social factor. It affect marriages - overwhelmingly cast-based. It affects recruitment, government positions, accessibility to employment, etc. It is less prevalent in the 'dravidian' south than the 'arian' north, but I think it needs to be indicated in the core article. But I will not add anything on the main page because I am not an expert. Trompeta 10:40, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The subject is India, not caste based results. It is mentioned that caste plays an important role in social and political realms. We can't have everything included in the main page, else it would be too large to handle. 11:02, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Censorship over the Caste system?

message: Has anyone considered switching to inline citations? Guidelines have changed since this article was featured. It would be useful if people looked into it and made sure this article still adheres to new guidelines instead of waiting for FARC. (Blacksun 05:12, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Inline citations are present. We've used invisible notes  which are perfectly acceptable and makes the page look neat. =Nichalp «Talk»= 07:13, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Some might argue that it makes it very unaccessible for anyone who might want to check the source, especially the casual readers.  Also, their has been repeated complaints in regards to this.  But I will respect the editors choice (for now). --Blacksun 05:31, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I think the  may be changed to easily clickable citation format, may be Harvard, or other. inote format is not much user-friendly, though the allow a speedy read.--Dwaipayanc 06:06, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Inline citations

message: The image lists it as being in Delhi, but isn't Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar? --Soumyasch 16:53, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: They finished a new one in Delhi last year. (Blacksun 16:56, 22 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Akshardham Temple 

message: Is it possible that the To-Do list is outdated? Because my edits on foreign relations were rapidly reverted. If so then it would be nice if we did get an updated to-do list so that potential editors could get more work done. Nobleeagle  (Talk) 06:48, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I apologize for my rather harsh message in the edit. However, you need to make sure you dont bring statements that break NPOV. I am not sure if todo list is outdated or not. And a lot of the things you are adding is mostly a rehash of stuff written in history like indo-pakistan wars, dispute with China, etc. Their is no need to repeat that.(Blacksun 07:02, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: That's alright, I understand if you want to make sure the article maitains its strong standards. I'll have another look at the section sometime tomorrow and edit a bit more carefully in order to incorporate relations with Pakistan (peace co-operation) and a bit with Africa the Commonwealth and the E.U. Nobleeagle  (Talk) 07:24, 24 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I did not revert your edits this time. However, the person who did it I think is a long time editor of this page. You might want to pm him. Three things you have to be careful of are: 1) NPOV 2) it should not be just a list of bla bla 3) it has to be very short and concise. In fact, I dont think foreign relations really belong in this article. At best a very general statement that gives an overall picture of india's foreign relations. However, that is almost impossible to do in a nice manner. Hence, we simply link "Foreign relations of India" page. --Blacksun 05:40, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

text: Yes, I'm the one who reverted the edits and put up the to do list a short while back. The recent foreign relations had only to do with the United States. We need to describe relationships duing the Cold War scenario, USA, USSR, EU, China, South Asia, Asia and the Commonwealth nations. =Nichalp «Talk»= 06:23, 25 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: My edits contained relations with Pakistan, China, the Commonwealth and a bit about the E.U. and Middle East as well as some stuff I'd read about Indian bilateral talks with African and Latin American nations. This version can be seen here. It was reverted by Blacksun as POV, which is understandable since it may have needed a bit of cleaning up to do. I agree with Nichalp as well seeing as it seems a bit less effective when only relations with the U.S. are discussed. Nobleeagle  (Talk) 08:17, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

text: Good point raised. Independent India took over the role of British India, in the same manner Russia took over the seat of USSR in the UN. =Nichalp «Talk»= 16:13, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Foreign Relations of India 

message: I am wondering what the relative sizes of various regional film industries in India are? I would have thought that the Bangla film industry is one of the bigger ones, but obviously that's not true, looking at the list of regional industries mentioned.--ppm 01:51, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cinema industries 

message: ::There is nothiin this article, or in any other articles about India that I can find, that explains India's caste system. Shouldn't this go under the "culture" section of this entry and be explained in greater detail in the main Culture of India article?
:: The caste system does have an article, but I don't believe it should be mentioned here. It is not a contemporary system in urbaized areas of India. Nobleeagle  (Talk) 22:42, 30 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It is mentioned in demographics with a wikilink to main article. I am not sure if the wikilink was always there or if its a new addition. Anyways, their are various other India-related articles that touch the topic. You must not have looked too closely? --Blacksun 22:05, 31 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The article is on India, not on specifics. Regards, =Nichalp «Talk»= 05:08, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

text:  I think the Caste system deserves a mention. Much of life in India [70% or so] lives outside :the so-called Urbanized areas.  [Dalit]]'s are the tragedy of this nation, and I dont understand why someone would want to paint a Indian shining picture here, unless you run for the election! --பராசக்தி 00:25, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Caste system 

message: The two topics are similar but different. Perhaps it would be better to seperate them and expand a little on both. It just doesn't do justice to have Indian politics and foreign relations summed up in that tiny paragraph. It also doesn't fit in the page to have a heading called Politics and Foreign Relations. Opinions? Nobleeagle  (Talk) 06:36, 2 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree. Foreign relations is an important topic and deserves to have a separate section. I would also like to take this opportunity to divert the attention of fellow Indian wikipedians towards Foreign relations of India article. I've done some work to improve the article and any comments are always welcome. --Spartian 06:49, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

text: They are both interrelated. Politics has to do with political parties, and political parties set the agenda for foreign relations. Splitting and expanding would result in a much larger page article. =Nichalp «Talk»= 12:53, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

text: I agree with Nichalp.  Their is no reason to split them here. --Blacksun 14:39, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Differentiating between Politics and Foreign Relations 

message: Aren't Indians anthropologically caucasoid? If so, why are they classified as Asian, unlike all other caucasoids are classified as White.
:Rcaial makeup of Indians is pretty diverse and no single racial orgin can be ascribed to Indians. Yes though majority (both Indo-Aryan and Dravidian) speakers are "Cauasoid" but they do have significant Asiatic and sometimes Australoid ancestry.
  अमेय आर्यन DaBroodey  13:38, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: How do you define Asian? =Nichalp «Talk»= 16:46, 8 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: There are two ways in which Asian is defined. To tell you the truth, in most Western nations, Asian people or Asian languages or Asian food describe East Asian and South East Asian things. But geographically, India is an Asian country. However, India can in no way be classified in the same way as European nations simply beacuse of the people's racial origins. Nobleeagle  (Talk) 02:01, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The "Indo-Aryans" of India may have Caucasoid ancestry but how can the Dravidians (mostly modern South Indians) have originated from Europe? More importantly, which part of the India article are you referring to when you say Indians are classified as Asians? This better not be a general discussion on racial classifications on Indians, otherwise it should go the Reference Desk! GizzaChat © 02:17, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Indians and Race 

message: The image of BSE is very relevant to the economy section. Stock market is primary source of Foreign investment in India.  The caption on that image makes it very relevant to the article.  It has been readded.  --Blacksun 23:05, 14 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Bombay Stock Exchange image

message: It is insane to suggest that "efforts to eradicate illiteracy has met with little success." At the time of independence, the literacy rate was in the 20s. And given the gignormous size of the population, when 1% composes 10 million people, it is commendable progress. By 2011, it should be above 70%. Rama's Arrow 13:51, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It has definitely improved As Indicated Here. And in states such as Goa, Kerala and Punjab the literacy goes into the 90s of percentages. Nobleeagle  (Talk) 23:43, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

text: Umm...Kerala had a high literacy rate even before independence.   So the statement was probably correct. --  thunderboltza.k.a.Deepu_Joseph |TALK 11:58, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Education comment

message: According to major world religions, Sikhism constitutes 0.36% of the world's population, which I'm not sure constitutes as a majowr world religion and Jainism is not even listed as a world religion. Jainism's population is listed as 4.2 million (which is less than 0.07% of the total approximate population of the world) --Jibran1 22:56, 17 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It is generally accepted that their following is large enough to be considered a major world religion. To me they are major, as when someone says they are Jain or Sikh, you know a bit about the religions already. Nobleeagle  (Talk) 07:39, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Major World Religions

message: Holy Ganga, I removed the latest image uploaded by you in teh culture section because their is no way that section can support 4 images.  Also, the caption in that image required a reference.  If you really want to keep that image than replace it with the food or holi image.--Blacksun 03:18, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, i agree 4 images were looking too much for that space. I am removing food image because i don't think thats a great pic for the main page. Indian classical dance is ancient and very important face of Indian culture even today. I think, we should add this image. It's licensing and summary is provided.- Holy Ganga 08:45, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  I still have issues with the captioning.  It is too long and it has a date in it which usually requires citation.  Please try to make it one sentence caption. --Blacksun 20:27, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Too many iamges in culture

message: Its pretty bad in quality and that image is quite crude.  What was a pretty short yet straight forward section before has been butchered under the pretense of expansion.  Please do a better job with it or revert it.  --Blacksun 03:52, 25 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: New holiday section

message: :Discussion moved to the more appropriate Image talk:IndiaMap2.PNG page. =Nichalp «Talk»= 13:07, 29 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  India Map problem 

message: Important: please . =Nichalp «Talk»= 16:24, 29 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: SVG Map

message: I don't understand the need to put the name of Republic of India in Tamil letters in the beginning of the article as Tamil is one of the languages which belong to India and there are many languages other than Tamil in India.
Any comments?
Subramanya 05:50, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't know who added it, but I've removed it now. All recognised Indian languages are official languages of India. -- Sundar \talk \contribs 06:40, 2 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Tamil Letters in the beginning of the article

message: As far as I know there are only three national holidays in India and not four. I have changed the number accordingly. I tried searching the official websites of India but could not come up with a number. However, the linked article in this section also mentions only three national holidays and not four ramit 11:12, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Here's a reference: http://india.gov.in/myindia/national_days.php. Can somebody pls make the appropriate changes as I am not very good at editing ramit 11:20, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

text: There are three. A recent bout of vandalism has given one extra one. =Nichalp «Talk»= 11:22, 9 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Holidays 

message: Does someone not want  to mention an ideological conflict of the Aryan and Dravidian cultural
clashes, and the general-expectation of rest-of-India to expect Tamils to know Hindi, and the 
associated Racist behaviour? --பராசக்தி 00:22, 17 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: There is no such significant clash, only a minor thing much hyped about.Cygnus_hansa 09:30, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Tamil & National Language Conflict 

message: Well, I have nothing against the image as such but why Jinnah? I think an image on Gandhi and Nehru is more appropriate. Thanks --Incman|वार्ता 06:47, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: While it's true that Nehru had a much bigger impact on the history of Republic of India, an image of Gandhi and Jinnah sort of completes a semantic picture in history. I'm not opposed to the new image though. -- Sundar \talk \contribs 06:56, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

text: No good Nehru-Gandhi image are present in commons. --Blacksun 21:35, 19 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Gandhi and Jinnah image 

message: I have expanded the section on government of India to show a clearer picture. The existing piece was not enough to give a clear picture of the govt. Further, I have readded a section on races in demography (please dont be a racophobic: as an academic discussion, each country's article has racial demographies). Also, I removed the lnaguages to a section on its own. The article on Hindustan was biased and factually incorrect. I have added to it and corrected the mistakes. Much of the material is from Webster's New World dictionary.Cygnus_hansa 09:34, 18 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Some changes

message: The article has deteriorated in quality since I last saw it. It seems that new edits are not scrutinised closely. Even the refs have been tampered with!! =Nichalp «Talk»= 15:03, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreed. The page seems to be on a downawrd spiral, with a lot of uncited claims being inserted every day. --Ragib 06:33, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  I've added a  for the section on races. I don't know that it portrays accurately the racial breakup of India. I think appropriate citation is required to justify the inclusion of that statement. AreJay 13:59, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Text 

message: I am making an Asian repository of images. Please complete the India part as you see fit, preferably similar to those of France, Britain et al: 
Wikipedia:List of images/Places/Asia
I will be working on Iran's section. Thanx. Nemeste.--Zereshk 01:36, 24 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Indian repository of images

message: ===No mention of India being the original homeland of the Aryans===
Amazing that in 2006, their are still people who dont want to mention India being the homeland of the Aryans....And why I try to put this in, our great friend here erases it & copies and pastes his B.S. version of India....Good job 08:41, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: , please discuss before making controversial and uncited edits. Thanks. --Ragib 08:43, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

text: Also, you might want to check out No personal attack policy. Thanks. --Ragib 08:49, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  ARYAN818 

message: Amazing that in 2006, their are still people who dont want to mention India being the homeland of the Aryans....And why I try to put this in, our great friend here erases it & copies and pastes his B.S. version of India....Good job 08:41, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: , please discuss before making controversial and uncited edits. Thanks. --Ragib 08:43, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

text: Also, you might want to check out No personal attack policy. Thanks. --Ragib 08:49, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: No mention of India being the original homeland of the Aryans

message: ::  Some details of Education Commission by Dolat singh Kothari and Labour Commission by P B Gajendragadakar should be kept on Wikipedia encyclopedia.   vkvora 19:26, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:   Looks interesting...can you give a gist of what they contain and what's so special about them? -Ambuj Saxena (talk) 19:33, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Education Commission 1966-68 for 10+2+3 and many more whereas Labour Commission to improve the condition of Labours and Bonded Labours.   vkvora 19:37, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

text:   The Education Commission under the Chairmanship of Dr.D.S. Kothari, the then Chairman, University Grants Commission, began its task on October 2,1964. It consisted of sixteen members, eleven being Indians and five foreign experts. In addition, the Commission had the benefit of discussion with a number of internationally known consultants in the educational as well as scientific field. vkvora 19:40, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

text:  NATIONAL COMMISSION ON LABOUR  : The first National Commission on Labour was set up in 1966 under the chairmanship of Justic P.B. Gajendragadkar and submitted its report in 1969. The important recommendations of the Commission have been implemented through amendments of various labour laws. Certain new laws have also been enacted like Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act ,1986. In the areas of wage policy and minimum wages, employment services, vocational training, labour statistics and research and workers` education also, the recommendations made by the Commission have been largely taken into account in modifying policies, procedures and programs of the Government.  In order to ensure both consistency of Labour Laws with the general changes taking place in the economic policy and also to provide for greater welfare of the working class, the Government is considering to set up a second National Labour Commission. vkvora 19:46, 27 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Report of Education Commission and Labour Commission 

message: :: The article does not meet criteria 2b (quote: "comprehensive" means that an article covers the topic in its entirety, and does not neglect any major facts or details;), because it misses to address one of India's most important sociologic aspects, that is the caste system. For a more detailled description, why the caste system should at least be explained in a few sentences can be read above (topic: "caste system once again"). Furthermore you can find more comments on this discussion page if you investigate further on to the top. Thanks.—Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.156.235.45 (talk • contribs) 
::While your intentions to improve the article is definitely noble, a Featured Article has to be selective. Seeing the article you will find that almost all the sections have a main article which covers the subject much more comprehensively. As a Featured Article has to follow summary style, everything can't be included. The subject coverage of caste system in this article has been debated a lot of times in the past and the current version reflects the consensus of the editors. However, if you feel it can be improved in any way without compromising the summary style and the actual quality of the article (in terms of neutrality), please discuss here what you plan to add. -Ambuj Saxena (talk) 11:10, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:   We should add Welfare section on the main article which will cover the caste, scheduled caste, etc.   vkvora 16:27, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

text: I believe those who want to add details about caste system don't have any experience of writing Featured Articles. Let me explain it in short (its much more tougher than you think). The article on India currently has 9 detailed sections (notes/external links don't count as detailed sections). They are History, Government, Politics, States and union territories, Geography, Economy, Demographics, Culture, and Holidays. Is Caste system such a broad topic as they are? The answer is no. So let's find out which section it belongs to. Logically it should belong to demographics. Now demographic section does not have clear-cut sub-sections, but its paragraphs are devoted to certain topics. Let us see what they are. They are Population distribution and literacy, Religions, Race and Society, and liguistics. Again, caste system comes under a sub-topic of Race and Society. Here, you find discussions about Race perceptions of the society, evolutionary discussions blending with invasions and leading to caste system and their scientific discussion. Now think about it in larger context. 50% of the paragraph already discusses caste system (beginning from invasions). Do you think that if every such branch of sub-section starts demanding more weightage, would this article have any chance of remaining featured? Now you are asking inclusion of caste system, tomorrow someone will ask to include the biggest ever stock market crash that took place a few days ago. In order to summarize the article, there has to be a trade-off. And for articles about countries, it has been decided that only the broader issues be discussed and the in-depth issues be made visible. Caste system already has very high visibility. It is discussed in 4 lines and see-also link has also been provided. Look down at the main "see also" section. You will see a long list of topics highly relevant to India but not even been mentioned in the text. If we include details of all these, this article would easily go beyond 200kb. The article does NOT say that it is all what India is. The links have been provided with a reason and separate article exists to cover the topics in sufficient detail. I hope I have been successful in telling you what it means to be an FA and why are we unwilling to add more. -Ambuj Saxena (talk) 17:21, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Nice explanation Lost 17:42, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposal for removal as feature candidate 

message: ::Is India in welfare state?
::An ideal model in which the state assumes primary responsibility for the welfare of its citizens. This responsibility is comprehensive, because all aspects of welfare are considered; a "safety net" is not enough, nor are minimum standards. It is universal, because it covers every person as a matter of right.
::vkvora 03:25, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Not even close if you compare it to say, the UK. --Grammatical error 16:15, 2 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Welfare State