August 14, 2017

The independence days of the south Asian nations of Pakistan (August 14) and India (August 15) take place this week. Parades, speeches, fireworks displays, and other public events will mark the occasion in both countries as they reflect on the 70 years that have passed since the partition (division) of the colony of British India in 1947.

To mark India’s independence day on August 15, the national flag illuminates the top of India Gate, a war memorial in New Delhi, the capital. Credit: © Rakesh Nayar, Shutterstock

The land that makes up what are now India and Pakistan came under British colonial rule in the 1800′s. British rule provided limited opportunities for Indians, and many Indians grew to resent the British. In 1885, a number of Indian lawyers and other professionals formed the Indian National Congress to promote the idea of Indian self-government. Members of this organization represented various religions and came from all parts of India. However, some Muslims believed the Indian National Congress was a Hindu organization aiming for Hindu rule. In 1906, Muslim leaders formed the All-India Muslim League to give Muslims a voice in political affairs. The Congress and the Muslim League both sought greater self-government, but disagreed over how to divide power fairly between Hindus and Muslims.

Children hold national flags and sing patriotic song during ceremonies marking Pakistan’s independence day on August 14 in Quetta, Pakistan. Credit: © Asianet-Pakistan/Shutterstock

Protests against British rule took place throughout India in the early 1900′s. Mohandas K. Gandhi, a leader in the independence movement, persuaded the Congress to adopt his program of nonviolent disobedience. This program asked Indians to boycott British goods, to refuse to pay taxes, and to stop using British schools, courts, and government services. The British agreed to grant Indians more influence in politics, but many people continued to campaign for independence.

The United Kingdom declared war on Germany in 1939. Because the British controlled India, the declaration also put India at war. This angered Indian leaders because they had not been consulted. The British promised that they would grant India independence after the war. In 1940, Muslim League leader Mohammad Ali Jinnah began to demand independence for India’s Muslim-majority northwestern and northeastern areas. Both the British government and the Indian National Congress rejected these demands.

After World War II ended in 1945, negotiations for independence resumed. The Congress and Muslim League could not settle their differences. The Muslim League held nationwide demonstrations on Aug. 16, 1946, calling for the establishment of a Muslim-majority nation to be called Pakistan, which means land of the pure in Urdu. Rioting broke out between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta (now Kolkata), and later elsewhere in India.

In 1947, Indian and British leaders agreed to divide the country into India and Pakistan, as they saw no other way to end the violence between Hindus and Muslims. Pakistan became independent on August 14, and India became independent the following day. This did not end the violence between the region’s Hindus and Muslims, however. Rioting led to the deaths of about half a million people, and more than 10 million people became refugees as Hindus and Sikhs fled Pakistan for India, and Muslims in India fled to Pakistan. In the decades since partition, tensions between India and Pakistan have remained high.

March 9, 2017

After five years of exploration and study in the mountainous Western Ghats region of India, scientists have announced the discovery of seven new species (kinds) of frogs. Four of these new species are among the tiniest known frogs in the world, small enough to gather more than one on a 5-rupee coin (the rupee is the chief monetary unit of India). The frogs belong to the genus Nyctibatrachus with the common name of night frog—so called because of their nocturnal (active in the night) habits and dark coloring. The smallest of these newfound night frogs is less than 1/2 inch (1.2 centimeters) long!

A newly discovered and identified Robinmoore’s night frog (Nyctibatrachus robinmoorei) has plenty of leg room on the Indian 5-rupee coin. Credit: © SD Biju

Most night frogs live in forest streams, have large webbing on their feet to swim around their aquatic habitat, and emit loud calls. Some can reach up to 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) long. Finding night frogs has never been an easy task, but the habits and smaller size of the newly found frogs make them even even more elusive. The newly discovered night frogs live mainly beneath damp soil or dense, wet vegetation, not in the water like most night frogs. They are also much quieter than other night frogs, featuring an insectlike call similar to the chirp of a cricket. Plus, four out of the seven species are extremely small. It is no wonder they went undiscovered for so long! Because they live mainly out of water, these new frog species—which have proved to be surprisingly abundant in the Western Ghats—have little or no webbing on their feet.

The newly found Athirappilly night frog (Nyctibatrachus athirappillyensis) comes from areas along the Athirappilly Falls on the Chalakudy River, site of a proposed hydroelectric dam. Credit: © SD Biju

The first frogs appeared on Earth during the Jurassic Period, which lasted from about 200 million years ago to about 145 million years ago. Thousands of species of frogs have evolved (developed over time) from these early ancestors. Night frogs are found only in southern parts of the Western Ghats region of India and represent an ancient group of frogs that populated the region about 70 million to 80 million years ago. Unfortunately, one-third of the frogs in the Western Ghats region are threatened with extinction. Increased conservation efforts are needed to protect these new species as well as other night frogs from threats posed by habitat loss, pollution, and climate change.

February 16, 2017

For some 2,000 years, sunken water systems called stepwells have provided fresh water and a cooling reprieve for people of the Indian subcontinent. Much of India’s climate is often oppressively hot, and fresh, cool water sources are a necessity. Stepwells are large, open wells constructed in downward tiers that often reach 100 feet (30 meters) below ground level. As their name implies, stepwells are lined with steps, allowing people to descend to the cool air and ground water below. Stepwells provide refreshing water, but they also offer a physical and aesthetic (artistically beautiful) break from the burning light and searing air—and hustle and bustle—of the surface above.

A woman pauses to admire some of the 800 sculptures among the many levels of the Rani-ki-Vav stepwell in Patan, Gujarat, India. Credit: © Shutterstock

India’s best-known stepwells are concentrated in the arid north and west of the country, but they can also also be found in the nation’s steamy southern states. Stepwells were once a common public water source, and thousands of stepwells once lined the subcontinent’s important trade routes. Their numbers have dwindled with the development of more modern water systems, but many are still in use. The elaborate Agrasen-ki-Baoli stepwell sits among the wide streets of New Delhi, India’s capital city. In Ahmedabad in northwestern Gujarat state, the Adalaj-ni-Vav stepwell adds legend to the water: centuries ago, a queen drowned herself there after the city was conquered by invaders.

India’s most famous stepwell, Rani-ki-Vav (queen’s stepwell), sits like an inverted temple in the Gujarat city of Patan. Rani-ki-Vav, built by Queen Udayamati in the late 1000’s, is a World Heritage Site. Such sites are places of unique cultural or natural importance as designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The stepwell has seven tapering levels, each lined with intricate sculptural panels detailing—among other things—the incarnations of Vishnu, one of the two main gods of Hinduism. UNESCO calls Rani-ki-Vav “an architectural monument of human creative genius,” illustrating “technological, architectural, and artistic mastery.”

Udayamati built Rani-ki-Vav as a memorial to her husband, King Bhimadeva of the Chalukya dynasty (line of rulers). The stepwell is 210 feet (64 meters) long, 80 feet (24 meters) wide, and 90 feet (27 meters) deep. At the bottom is a 75-foot (23-meter) deep pool of water. In the 1200’s, Rani-ki-Vav was buried in silt deposited by floodwaters of the Saraswati River. The site was lost to history until the 1980’s, when archaeologists excavated the well, which was in an exceptional state of conservation. Over the centuries, however, ground water has shifted, and the pool must now be filled from external water sources. Regardless, Rani-ki-Vav is famous for its artistic splendor, and it still provides a cool break from the heat and sun above.

October 27, 2016

In the village of Deshnoke, in India’s northwestern state of Rajasthan, stands the Karni Mata temple and its population of more than 20,000 sacred residents. Tourists from around the world travel to this Hindu temple to meet these residents, dine with them, and allow them to scamper across their feet, which is seen as a sign of good luck. You see, the residents of Karni Mata are rats.

Sacred rats drink milk from a bowl in India’s Karni Mata Temple in Deshnoke, Rajasthan. Credit: © Don Mammoser, Shutterstock

Hindus believe that the soul of a person who dies is reborn in a process known as reincarnation. Depending on how a person has lived, the soul may be reborn in the body of a human or animal. This cycle of life, death, and reincarnation continues until a person achieves spiritual perfection.

The temple in Deshnoke is dedicated to Karni Mata, a woman bard (singer-poet) who lived in the late 1400’s and early 1500’s. During Karni Mata’s lifetime, a clan of followers worshipped her as an incarnation (earthly embodiment) of the goddess Durga. According to tradition, after the son of one of her followers died, Karni Mata asked the underworld god Yama to bring the boy back to life. Yama refused, saying the boy had already been reincarnated. Karni Mata then made a bargain with Yama, so that from then on her followers would be reincarnated as rats until they could be reborn into the human clan.

The Karni Mata temple dates from the early 1900’s. A few human residents clean the temple and feed the rats from metal bowls. Visitors may eat food or drink water that has been nibbled or sipped by the rats. Such rat-blessed treats are considered holy and likely to bring good luck. Even better fortune is said to await those who catch a glimpse of one of the temple’s few white rats, which are believed to be incarnations of Karni Mata and her family. Visitors are required to remove their shoes inside the temple, and are advised to carefully watch their steps. A person who steps on a rat must buy a gold or silver statue to apologize.

February 1, 2016

The 61st Filmfare Awards were presented on January 15 at the Yash Raj Studio in Mumbai, India. The awards are presented annually for artistic and technical excellence in filmmaking in the Hindi language. Filmfare Awards are announced for motion pictures made during the previous year. The Filmfare Awards have often been referred to as the Hindi film industry’s equivalent of the Academy Awards. The Academy Awards are the best-known film awards and are presented annually in Hollywood. The name for the motion-picture industry in India is Bollywood. Although many of the faces on the Filmfare Awards stage may not be familiar to most American audience members, Bollywood actors are among the most famous and most-recognized megastars in the world.

Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, and Privanka Chopra, left to right, star in the Indian epic historical romance Bajirao Mastani, The film won nine Filmfare Awards in 2016. Credit: © SLB Films

The epic historical romance Bajirao Mastani, one of the highest grossing Indian films of all time, dominated the night with nine awards. Based on the Marathi novel Raau by Nagnath S. Inamdar, the film tells the story of the Maratha Peshwa Bajirao (1700-1740) and his Muslim wife Mastani. Marathas are Hindu people who live in the central and southwestern parts of India. Bajirao Mastani won for best film, and its director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, won for best director. Ranveer Singh won for best actor and Priyanka Chopra won for best supporting actress in that film. Chopra may be familiar to American television audiences for her portrayal of Alex Parrish, an FBI recruit who is suspected of a terrorist attack, in the popular ABC crime drama Quantico. Shreya Ghoshal won for best female playback singer for the song “Deewani Mastani” in Bajirao Mastani. A playback singer is someone whose voice is used in a movie in place of that of the actor or actress. Bajirao Mastani also won for best costume, best choreography, best production design, and best action.

The cross-generational hit comedy Piku was the night’s other big winner with five awards. Deepika Padukone, who was also the female lead in Bajirao Mastani, won for best actress in Piku. In that film, Padukone plays the daughter of a grumpy father, portrayed by Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, who won the critics award for best actor for his role. Piku also won for best background score and best screenplay, as well as the critics award for best film. Anil Kapoor won for best supporting actor for his performance in the romantic drama Dil Dhadakne Do.

The Indian magazine Filmfare presents the awards. Filmfare is an English-language magazine about Indian cinema. It is the oldest film magazine in India. Winners of a Filmfare Award receive a black statue, generally made of bronze, depicting a woman with her arms raised in a traditional Indian dance pose.

The Filmfare Awards were first presented in 1954. Filmfare Awards South are the South Indian version of the Filmfare Awards. These awards are presented annually for movies in the Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu languages. Filmfare Awards South are also presented by Filmfare and were first awarded in 1954. The first Filmfare Awards East were presented in 2014. These awards recognize movies in the Assamese, Bengali, and Odia languages.

Other World Book articles:

• Bhosle, Asha
• Chopra, Yash Raj
• Dixit, Madhuri
• India, Languages of
• Kapoor, Kareena
• Kapoor, Raj
• Khan, Shahrukh
• Khanna, Rajesh
• Kumar, Dilip
• Mangeshkar, Lata

September 24, 2014

Two new spacecraft have slid into orbit around Mars in the past few days, including the first probe from an Asian country. That pioneering probe was from India, which also became the first nation or geographic group to sucessfully reach Mars on its first try. The Indian Space Research Organisation playfully announced the arrival of its Mars Orbiter Mission, also known as Mangalyaan, on the probe’s Twitter account with the message, “What is red, is a planet and is the focus of my orbit?” On Sunday, NASA’s Mars Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft entered Mars orbit. Both Mangalyaan and MAVEN will circle the red planet to study its atmosphere.

Mangalyaan–Sanskrit for Mars craft–is primarily a demonstration of India’s technological expertise, especially considering the mission’s amazingly inexpensive (for a spacecraft) $74-million pricetag. However, the probe, which is expected to orbit Mars for 6 and 10 months, also carries a camera and four scientific instruments for studying the plane’t surface and atmosphere. One part of its mission will be a search for atmospheric methane. Some 90 percent of the methane in Earth’s atmosphere is produced by living things, so the presence of the quickly disappearing gas in the Martian atmosphere could be a sign of microbial life there.

NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission approaches Mars in an artist’s conception. (NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)

NASA’s MAVEN probe will be the first to focus on Mars’s thin upper atmosphere in an effort to learn how and why Mars changed from a warm, wet planet to the cold, dry world it is today. The agency said the spacecraft will search for information about the history of the Martian atmsophere and how changes in climate influenced the evolution of the surface and the potential habitability of the planet.

MAVEN and Mangalyaan have become the fourth and five operational missions, respectively, now orbitting Mars. The other probes are Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, both from the United States, and Mars Express, launched by the European Space Agency. In 1971, the former Soviet Union successfully placed its Mars 3 probe in orbit around the red planet. Two rovers, NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Mission (Opportunity) and Mars Science Laboratory (Curiosity), are currently exploring the Martian surface.

Additional World Book articles:

• Mars Pathfinder
• Phoenix
• Space exploration (Probes to Mars)
• The Search for Water on Mars (a special report)

July 3, 2014

Recent findings are sure to disappoint people who believe that the Yeti, or Abominable Snowman, stalks the Himalaya and that Bigfoot prowls the Pacific Northwest in the United States. In a study published last week, British scientists who examined samples of “Yeti hair” sent in by museums and cryptozoologists (people who study and search for legendary creatures) reported finding no Yeti yet. The study appeared online in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The Yeti is a creature said to live on Mount Everest and other mountain ranges of Asia. According to legend, the Yeti is a hairy beast with a large, apelike body and a face that resembles that of a human being. (World Book illustration by Ted Lewis).

Many people are fascinated by the idea that a large primate like the Yeti—or its American cousin, Bigfoot, or Russian relative, Almasty—could survive in remote wilderness areas unexplored by modern science. Cryptozoologists have investigated the Yeti for decades. Sensational reports of Yeti sightings have been exposed as hoaxes and fakes in the past, which has led many skeptics to dismiss the creature as pure fantasy.

The study on Yeti hair was led by Bryan Sykes, a geneticist at Oxford University. In 2012, Sykes requested samples of hair from Yeti enthusiasts,  saying, “I’m challenging and inviting the cryptozoologists to come up with the evidence instead of complaining that science is rejecting what they have to say.” Scientists on the study ended up analyzing the DNA of more than 30 of the 57 “Yeti hair” samples submitted. The remaining samples were eliminating after the scientists found that they were not hair but such substances as fiberglass. The researchers discovered that most of the 30 analyzed hair samples came from such common animals as cows, horses, raccoons, deer, and coyotes. None of the samples came from a new primate species.

Two of the samples, however, were less straightforward: one was found in Ladakh—a region in Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India; and the other came from Bhutan to the east. The tests revealed that the hair was from a mammal, but it did not match samples from known primates. Surprisingly, the DNA from the two samples matched up almost exactly with DNA from the 40,000-year-old jawbone of a Norwegian polar bear. The researchers do not believe that the “Himalayan Yeti” actually represents an isolated population of polar bears. Instead, they theorize that the region is home to a hybrid bear species unknown to science that developed from matings between polar bears and brown bears somewhere in northern Asia during the last Ice Age, when the ranges of those bears overlapped.

Sykes admits that the study does not disprove the existence of the Yeti or other large primates unknown to scientists; it only means that the samples submitted for analysis did not come from such creatures. Enthusiasts need to keep looking for evidence that stands up to scientific scrutiny.

Additional World Book articles:

• Folklore
• Hillary, Sir Edmund Percival
• Journey to the Top of the World by Sir Edmund P. Hillary (a special report)

November 4, 2013

The Hindu festival of Diwali (from a Sanskrit word meaning row of lights) began yesterday. This five-day festival of lights is a national holiday in India and is celebrated in Hindu communities worldwide. It signifies the turning of the human spirit from darkness to light. Families decorate their homes with small oil lanterns (diyas) and flowers. Firework displays are part of the festivities. People also wear new clothing and exchange gifts during the holiday.

A man in India lighting Diwali lamps that are decorated with flowers. During Diwali, the lights symbolize the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. (© Bob Krist, Corbis).

Diwali celebrates many things. It is a festival for the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, wife to Vishnu. Diwali is especially significant to merchants, who light small lamps in their homes and shops, hoping the goddess will find them and bring them prosperity. Some Hindus leave their doors and windows open so that the goddess can enter their homes. The holiday also commemorates the return of Rama to the city of his birth—the holy city of Ayodhya—after 14 years in exile. Rama is the hero of the ancient Sanskrit poem the Ramayana. In West Bengal, Diwali is associated with Kali, the goddess of destruction. In Nepal, the holiday marks the victory of Lord Krishna over a demon king.  

Sikhs and Jains also celebrate Diwali. For Sikhs, Diwali marks the release of their spiritual leader Guru Hargobind from prison in 1619. Sikhs celebrate Diwali in much the same way as Hindus. Jains celebrate Vira-nirvana, a one-day festival, during Diwali. Vira-nirvana marks the passing of Mahavira, who organized the Jain religion, into nirvana. Sikhs observe this day by lighting lamps and fasting.

Additional World Book articles:

• Feasts and festivals
• Hinduism
• Jainism
• Sikhism

July 18, 2013

A chemical compound used in agricultural insecticides caused the deaths of at least 23 students in the Indian state of Bihar. The children fell ill shortly after eating free school lunches, according to an official from the hospital where autopsies were conducted on the victims. At least 20 other students from the school who also consumed the insecticide-tainted food remained hospitalized. The chemical, one of a number of chemicals called organophosphorus compounds, was probably either in the food ingredients or the cooking oil used to prepare them, Indian officials said.

At a news conference, the Bihar State Education Minister said the school’s cook had reportedly complained to the headmistress because newly purchased cooking oil looked “discolored and dodgy.” However, the headmistress insisted that the cook use the oil, which, the minister said, had been supplied by a store owned by the headmistress’s husband.  The headmistress and her husband have fled the town of Dharmasati Gandaman, where the poisonings took place, and are being sought by police.

Bihar state is in northeastern India. (World Book map; map data © MapQuest.com, Inc.)

In Dharmasati Gandaman, protesting parents and hundreds of villagers armed with poles and sticks demolished the school’s kitchen, blocked streets, and locked railway gates, bringing train traffic to a halt. Police vehicles were also set on fire. In the nearby city of Chhapra, a crowd torched a bus and damaged private property. News reports indicated that children in other schools were refusing to eat the lunches provided under the government program, which supplies food for about 120 million children in 1.2 million school districts in an effort combat hunger. The program has often been criticised for lax food safety standards.

Additional World Book articles:

• Food poisoning
• India
• Pure food and drug laws

July 16, 2013

—•— (Start message) The last telegram in the last country to maintain a national telegraph service was sent yesterday, closing a major chapter in the story of a system that dominated long-distance communication for more than 100 years. The final message, tapped out by Bharat Sanchar Nigram, India’s state-run telegram service, was transmitted 163 years after telegraph service was established in that country. The company said it could no longer compete profitably with Internet and cell phone messaging. Western Union ended its telegraph service in the United States in 2006. However, telegraph lines around the world have not been completely silenced. A Swiss-based company called Unitel Telegram Services reports transmitting tens of thousands of telegrams each month in more than 40 countries. According to the company, about half of its messages are sent to individuals, with businesses and diplomatic services accounting for the rest.

In an age of instant digital communication, it is difficult to appreciate the Earth-changing nature of the telegraph. Before the telegraph, most long-distance messages traveled no faster than the fastest horse. An exception was the semaphore method, in which a sequence of lights or other markers signaled from point to point. However, semaphore systems did not work well in bad weather. Even in good weather, they could transmit only a small amount of information.

Western Union messengers wait on scooters outside their office in 1940, ready for telegrams that need delivery. Western Union was the main provider of long-distance telegraph service in the United States from the mid-1800's until the early 2000's. (© American Stock/Getty Images)

The telegraph, which was an important means of communication from the mid-1800′s to the mid-1900′s, was the first instrument used to send messages by means of wires and electric current. Telegraph operators sent signals using a device that interrupted the flow of electric current along a wire. They used shorter and longer bursts of current, with spaces in between, to represent the letters of the message in what became known as Morse code. A device at the receiving end converted the signals to a series of clicks that a telegraph operator or a mechanical printer translated into words. The message was called a telegram if it was sent over wires stretched across land and a cablegram, or simply a cable, if it was sent through cables laid underwater.

The American painter and inventor Samuel F. B. Morse is credited with making the first practical telegraph in 1837. Morse received a U.S. patent for it in 1840. However, Morse’s invention built upon years of research and experiments by people who came before him. The text of Morse’s first telegram to his partner Alfred Vail was “What hath God Wrought?” •—•—•

Additional World Book articles:

• Signaling
• SOS
• Wheatstone, Sir Charles
• Woods, Granville T.
• Telecommunications (1924) (a Back in Time article)