Kelkoo

(1) Nielsen NetRatings (October 2005) data. Other sets of holidays, varying between nine to twelve, pertains to festivals, religious holidays and births of leaders which are legislated by the individual states. In October 2005 a book on Kelkoo appeared in French called "Ils on reussi leur start-up". India has three National Holidays. The name "Kelkoo" originated from the pronunciation of the expression "At what cost?" in French. Formula 1 racing is also increasing in popularity, due to racing driver Narain Karthikeyan, though its reach is largely limited to urban areas. Kelkoo operates the shopping channels of major Internet players like MSN across Europe (since June 2003), Yahoo! in France, Spain and Italy and provides a product search for Ask Jeeves? in the UK. Football (soccer) is also widely watched in almost the entire country, and is the most popular sport in many states.

At the same time, Hitwise announced that Kelkoo was the number 1 UK website, based on visits to the Shopping & Classifieds - Rewards and Directories category. Snooker and badminton have seen Indians achieve some international success. In October 2004 Nielsen/NetRatings and BBC described Kelkoo as "the dominant shopping guide" in the UK. Chess, badminton and carrom are also said to have originated in India. Kelkoo was nominated by Nielsen/Netratings one of the 10 most influential websites of the decade(4), and received praise by the BBC Online for "paving the way for online shopping". Traditional indigenous sports include polo, kabaddi, Kho Kho and gilli-danda, which are played in most parts of the country. It provides shoppers with tools to compare prices and product features. Its players have secured several individual titles and Grand Slam doubles wins, but an Indian is yet to win a Grand Slam singles.

Kelkoo is a one-stop shopping service, which helps shoppers to find, research and buy products online. India has done rather well in Davis Cup tennis tournaments, reaching the finals on three occasions. Kelkoo has been profitable since Q4 2002. However, it had won eight field hockey golds until 1980. Kelkoo now operates in 10 European countries and receives over 12 million unique users monthly (over 4 million in the UK) from users across Europe(1). India has had relatively little success in other international events like the Olympics, where it garnered just one silver medal and two bronze medals in the previous three outings. In April 2004 Kelkoo was acquired by Yahoo! Inc and is now a wholly owned subsidiary. India also has a tradition of cue sports (snooker, billiards, etc) and shooting.

Within 2 years of launching, Kelkoo became Europe's largest e-commerce website after Amazon and Ebay and the largest e-commerce advertising platform both in the UK and Europe by merging with Zoomit, Dondecomprar and Shopgenie. Chess is another international sport in which India is quite strong: Viswanathan Anand was FIDE World Champion, and several players have made significant inroads in recent years, well past the Grandmaster level. Kelkoo.com was founded in 1999 by Pierre Chappaz and Mauricio Lopez. But cricket is not the most popular sport in quite a few states, particularly in the northeast. India's national sport is field hockey, although cricket is now the de facto national game due to its success and popularity in recent times. Traditional raiments for men are the kurta and dhoti.

The traditional sari and the salwar kameez are popular styles of dress for women. Traditional dress in India greatly varies across the regions in its colours and styles, and depend on various factors, including climate. Spicy food and sweets are popular in India. The country is notable for its wide variety of vegetarian and non vegetarian cuisine.

The cuisine of India is extremely diverse, as ingredients, spices and cooking methods vary from region to region. Rice and wheat (in bread form) are the staple foods in the country. India's contribution to world cinema was the internationally renowned Bengali director Satyajit Ray, who in 1992 won an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement. Cinema in other vernacular languages is also particularly strong, with movies regularly produced in well-established Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu industries.

The most recognisable face is that of cinema production based in Mumbai, which produces mainly commercial Hindi films, often referred to as "Bollywood". India produces the world's largest number of movies every year. India's only Nobel laureate in literature was the Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore. There have been many notable modern Indian writers, both in Indian languages and in English.

Sangam literature from Tamil Nadu represents some of India's oldest traditions. Most of these spring from Indian (later called Hindu) traditions, and are represented by sacred works like the Vedas and the epics of the Mahabharatha and Ramayana. The earliest literary traditions in India were mostly oral, and were later transcribed. They often have a narrative form (based on the itihasa (Indian epics), and are usually infused with devotional and spiritual elements.

Many classical dance forms exist, including the Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam and Kuchipudi from the south, and Odissi, Kathak and Manipuri from the north and east. In addition to this are the diverse traditions of folk music from different parts of the country. Popular forms of music also prevail, the most notable being Filmi music. The two main forms of classical music are Carnatic from South India, and Hindustani from North India.

Indian music is represented by a wide variety of forms. Durga Puja in West Bengal, and Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharastra and Karnataka (both during autumn) are two festivals which have social as well as religious significance. Pongal in Tamil Nadu and Onam in Kerala are harvest festivals celebrated by people belonging to all religions in their respective states. The most widely known and popular celebrations include the Hindu festivals of Diwali, Holi, and Dussehra.

A melting pot of many religions, India has a rich diversity of festivals, many of which are celebrated by all, irrespective of caste and creed. Religion in India is a very public affair, with many practices imbued with pomp and vitality accompanying their underlying spiritual qualities. Traditional Indian family values are highly respected, and considered sacred, although urban families have grown to prefer a nuclear family system, owing to the socio-economic constraints imposed by the traditional joint family system. Education is highly regarded by members of every socio-economic stratum.

Religious practices of various faiths are an integral part of everyday life in society. Indian society is largely pluralist, multilingual and multicultural. These are the result of a syncretic tradition that combined elements from all parts of the country. Famous monuments, such as the Taj Mahal and other examples of Islamic-inspired architecture have been inherited from the Mughal dynasty.

Many cultural practices, languages, customs and even monuments are examples of this co-mingling over centuries. It has always absorbed customs, traditions and ideas from both invaders and immigrants. India has a rich and unique cultural heritage, and has managed to preserve its established traditions throughout history. The number of mother tongues in India is as high as 1,652.

Two classical languages native to the land are Sanskrit and Tamil. Hindi and English are used by the Central Government for official purposes. The Indian constitution recognises 23 official languages^[1]. Other languages spoken in India come from the Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman linguistic families.

India is home to two major linguistic families: Indo-Aryan (spoken by about 74% of the population) and Dravidian (spoken by about 24%). Other religious groups include Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.84%), Buddhists (0.76%), Jains (0.40%), Jews, Zoroastrians, Ahmadi-muslims, and Bahá'ís. Although 80.5% of the people are Hindus, India is also home to the third-largest population of Muslims in the world (13.4%; see Islam in India), after Indonesia and Pakistan. India has no state religion.

Work Participation Rate (WPR; the percentage of workers to total population) is 39.1%, with male WPR at 51.7% and female WPR at 25.6% India's median age is 24.66, and the population growth rate is 22.32 births per 1,000. The sex ratio is 933 females per 1000 males. India's literacy rate is 64.8%, 53.7% for females and 75.3% of males. Its biggest metropolitan agglomerations are Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Delhi, Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) and Chennai (formerly Madras).

Language, religion, and caste are major determinants of social and political organisation within the highly diverse population. India is the second-most populous country in the world, after China. For the year 2004, India's total exports stood at US$ 69.18 billion, imports at US $89.33 billion. India's main exports include agricultural products, textile goods, gems and jewelry, software services, engineering goods, chemicals and leather products, while its main imports are crude oil, machinery, gems, fertiliser, and chemicals.

India's major trading partners are the United States, Japan, China and the United Arab Emirates. Directly and indirectly, it generates an estimated 42 million jobs, about 10% of India's work force. Tourism contributes 5.3% of GDP, about US$4 billion in foreign exchange. While India receives only around three million foreign visitors a year, tourism is still an important but under-developed source of national income.

Many small-scale industries provide steady employment to workers in small towns and villages. In recent years, India has emerged as one of the largest players in the software and BPO industries, with revenues of US$ 17.2 billion in 2004 to 2005. Most of India's industrial regions are centred around major cities. Other important industries are mining, petroleum, diamond polishing, films, textiles, IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) services, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, and handicrafts.

The Indian economy has shed much of its historical dependence on agriculture, which now contributes about 21% to GDP. While a quarter of Indians still live below the poverty line, a large middle class has now emerged along with the rapid growth of the information technology (IT) and service industries. Mumbai is the financial capital and home to the headquarters of the Reserve Bank of India and the pre-eminent Bombay Stock Exchange. India's foreign exchange reserves amount to over US$ 145 billion.

Per-capita income (by PPP) is US$ 3100, ranked 125th according to the World Bank. It recorded one of the fastest growth rates (8.1%) for the fourth quarter of 2005. India's economy ranks tenth in the world in terms of currency conversion (GNP), and fourth in terms of Purchasing power parity (PPP). India gets most of its rains through the monsoons.

Parts of India which lie in the Himalayas have a tundra climate. The Indian climate varies from tropical in the south to more temperate in the north. India has three archipelagos – Lakshadweep off the southwest coast, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands volcanic island chain to the southeast, and the Sunderbans in the Gangetic Delta in West Bengal State. India is home to several major rivers, including the Ganga, Brahmaputra, Yamuna, Godavari, Kaveri, and Krishna.

The southern Indian Peninsula is almost entirely composed of the Deccan plateau, which is flanked by two hilly coastal ranges, the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats. In the west, bordering southeast Pakistan, lies the Thar Desert. The rest of northern, central and eastern India consists of the fertile Indo-Gangetic plain. India's northern and northeastern states are partially situated in the Himalayan Mountain Range.

India has had two scientific bases in Antarctica – the Dakshin Gangotri and Maitri, but has made no territorial claims so far. National Capital Territory:. Union Territories:. States:.

States have their own elected government, whereas Union Territories are governed by an administrator appointed by the Union Government, though some have elected governments. India is divided into twenty-eight states (which are further subdivided into districts), six Union Territories and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. All governments since 1996 have required party coalitions, with no single party claiming a majority, due to the steady rise of regional parties at the national level. The NDA, led by the BJP, currently forms the main opposition.

It formed a government in alliance with several regional parties, known as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), with the outside support of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). In the 2004 Indian elections the INC returned to power after winning the largest number of seats. The decade prior to 1999 was marked by a state of political flux, with seven separate governments formed within that period. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) along with smaller regional parties, and became the first non-Congress government to sustain a full five-year tenure (1999 to 2004).

But power was de facto held by two successive coalition governments, with the active support of the Congress. In 1996, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a political party with a right-wing nationalist ideology, became the largest single party, and established, for the first time, a serious opposition to the largely centre-left Congress. After emergency was lifted in 1977, and fresh elections were called, a united opposition, under the banner of the Janata Party won the elections and formed a non-Congress government for a short period. In 1975, the government led by Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency Rule across the nation.

Following its position as the largest political organisation in pre-independence India, the INC, usually led by a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, dominated national politics for over four decades. For most of its independent history, India has been ruled by the Indian National Congress Party (INC). A conflict between the legislature and the judiciary is referred to the President. Each of these states has a tiered system of lower courts.

There are 18 appellate High Courts, each having jurisdiction over a state or a group of smaller states. The Supreme Court has both original jurisdiction over disputes between states and the Centre, and appellate jurisdiction over the High Courts of India. India's independent judiciary consists of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India. In the Indian parliamentary system, the executive is subordinate to the legislature.

Any minister holding a portfolio must be a member of either house of parliament. The executive arm consists of the President, Vice-President and the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet), headed by the Prime Minister. All Indian citizens above age 18 are eligible to vote. The 545-member Lok Sabha is directly elected by popular vote for a five-year term, and is the determinative constituent of political power and government formation.

The 245-member Rajya Sabha is chosen indirectly through an electoral college, and has a staggered six-year term. The legislature of India is the bicameral Parliament, which consists of the upper house called the Rajya Sabha (Council of States), and the lower house called the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The constitution does not explicitly provide for a post of Deputy Prime Minister, but this option has been exercised from time to time. He or she is elected by legislators of the political party or coalition commanding a parliamentary majority, and serves a five-year term, with re-election.

The Prime Minister is the head of government, and has most executive powers. The President and the Vice President are elected indirectly by an electoral college for five-year terms. He is also the Commander-in-Chief of India's armed forces. The President is the head of state, and has a largely ceremonial role, including interpreting the constitution, signing laws into action and issuing pardons.

It has a three branches of governance: the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. India has a quasi-federal form of government and a bicameral parliament operating under a Westminster-style parliamentary system. India is a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. Significant economic reforms beginning in 1991 have transformed India into one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and added to its global clout.

This was followed by a series of five more tests in Operation Shakti in 1998. In 1974, India conducted an underground nuclear test, making it an unofficial member of the "nuclear club". India is a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations. It has unresolved border disputes with China (which escalated into the brief Sino-Indian War in 1962), and with Pakistan, which resulted in wars in 1947, 1965, 1971 and in 1999 in Kargil (at the northern fringe of Jammu and Kashmir State).

As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation, India has had some sectarian violence and insurgencies in various parts of the country, but has stayed together as a vibrant democracy. The struggle culminated on 1947-08-15, when India gained full independence from British rule, and became a republic on 1950-01-26. In the early 20th century, the prolonged, non-violent struggle for independence was led by Mahatma Gandhi, widely regarded as the "Father Of The Nation". After it was put down, much of India came under the direct administrative control of the crown of the British Empire.

An 1857 insurrection against the British East India Company failed, known locally as the First War of Indian Independence, and in British and some Western literature as the Indian Mutiny, Sepoy Mutiny or Sepoy Rebellion. During mid-second millennium AD, several European countries, including Portugal, Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom, who initially wanted to trade with India, took advantage of the fractured kingdoms fighting each other, to establish colonies in the country. Nevertheless, several indigenous kingdoms flourished, especially in the relatively sheltered south, one of which was the Vijayanagara Empire. Following the Islamic invasions from Central Asia and Persia in the beginning of the second millennium AD, much of north and central India came under the rule of the Delhi Sultanate, and later the Mughal dynasty, who gradually expanded their reign to much of the Indian subcontinent.

Science, engineering, art, literature, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy flourished under the patronage of these kings. In the south, several dynasties, including the Chalukyas, Cheras, Cholas, Kadambas, Pallavas and Pandyas prevailed during different periods. From the 3rd century AD, the Gupta dynasty oversaw the period referred to as ancient India's "Golden Age". This led to the establishment of the Indo-Greek, Indo-Scythian and Indo-Parthian kingdoms in the northern Indian Subcontinent, and finally the Kushan Empire.

From 180 BC, a series of invasions from Central Asia followed. In the north, the Maurya dynasty, which included Aşoka The Great, contributed greatly to India's cultural landscape. From around 550 BC, many independent kingdoms came into being. It was followed by the Vedic Civilisation.

The first known permanent settlements appeared over 9,000 years ago, and gradually developed into the Indus Valley Civilisation, which began around 3300 BC and peaked between 2600 BC and 1900 BC. Stone Age rock shelters with paintings at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh are the earliest known traces of human life in present-day India. . In the last 20 years, it has grown significantly, especially in the economic and military spheres.

India was a part of the British Empire before gaining independence in 1947. Four major world religions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism — have Indian origins. It is home to the Indus Valley Civilisation — one of the most ancient civilizations in recorded history — and a centre of important historic trade routes. It is the second most populous country, with a population of over one billion, and the seventh largest by geographical area.

India is the fourth largest economy in the world by purchasing power parity, and the tenth largest by absolute GNP. A third name, Hindustan (Hindi: हिन्दुस्तान IPA: /ɦɪn̪d̪ʊst̪aːn/) listen (help·info) (Persian: Land of the Hindus) has been used since the 12th century AD, though its contemporary use is unevenly applied due to domestic disputes over its representativeness as a national signifier. This name is derived from the Sanskrit name of an ancient Hindu king whose story can be found in the Mahabharata epic poem. The Constitution of India, and common usage also recognises Bharat (Hindi: भारत IPA: /b^ɦaːrət̪/ listen (help·info)) as an official name of equal status.

The name India IPA: /'ɪndiə/ is derived from the Old Persian version of Sindhu, the historic local name for the Indus river (see Origin of India's name). India also claims a border with Afghanistan to the northwest.^[1]. On the Indian Ocean, it is adjacent to three island nations — the Maldives to the southwest, Sri Lanka to the south, and Indonesia to the southeast. It has a coastline of over 7000 kilometres, borders Pakistan to the west, the People's Republic of China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east.

The Republic of India is a South Asian country that comprises a major portion of the Indian subcontinent. Delhi. Pondicherry. Lakshadweep.

Daman and Diu. Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Chandigarh. Andaman and Nicobar Islands.