सत्यमेव जयते (Satyameva Jayate) ("Truth Alone Triumphs") | |||||||
| Anthem | "Jana Gana Mana" | ||||||
| Capital | Bombay | ||||||
| Largest city | Bombay | ||||||
| Other cities | Delhi, Calcutta, Bangalore, Ahmedabad | ||||||
| Language official |
Hindi, English | ||||||
| others | 8th Schedule Languages | ||||||
| Religion main |
Hinduism | ||||||
| others | Islam, Buddhism, Christianity | ||||||
| Demonym | Indian, Bharat | ||||||
| Government | Federal Democratic Republic | ||||||
| President | Manmohan Singh | ||||||
| Prime Minister | Manohar Joshi | ||||||
| Established | 2003 | ||||||
| Organizations | League of Nations | ||||||
The Union of India, commonly referred to simply as India, is the official successor state to the former Republic of India, with its capital in Bombay, formed as the Union Interim Parliament (UIP) in 2003 to reunite the breakaway nations of the former Republic of India. Despite many nations seceding shortly after its formations, thanks to a military alliance with the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand, India has successfully been able to return all of these nations to the fold through conquest.
In 2008, the League of Nations formally recognized the UIP's new Indian government as the legitimate successor state to the old Republic of India. Upon receiving this recognition, the Parliament quickly moved to capitalize on this by dropping its "interim" status and proclaiming itself the Union of India.
History[]
Pre-Doomsday[]
The history of Indian civilization stretches back thousands of years to the Indus Valley culture, one of the world's oldest civilizations.
Following the Indus Valley civilization, the next major periods of ancient Indian history was the Vedic Age, generally marked as being from c. 1500-500 BC. The Vedic Age was influenced by the arrival of Indo-European tribes called Aryans from Central Asia. As their culture fused with the native cultures of India, new forms of art, literature, and philosophy began to grow. This period is named after the Vedas, four of the oldest written liturgical texts still in modern use. The Vedas form the foundation of Hinduism, and one passage of the Rig Veda is still quoted in daily prayers by Hindus today as the Gayatri Mantra prayer.
Besides Hinduism, another religious tradition began growing in India in the 5th to 4th centuries BC during the lifetime of Siddhartha Gautama, a north Indian prince who renounced his royal title and sought enlightenment through meditation. Gautama came to several conclusions about the steps to liberation from reincarnation; these ideas became the basis for Buddhism, named after the Buddha (meaning "Enlightened One"), the title that Gautama came to be known by.
The powerful Mauryan Empire grew out of Bihar in northern India in the 300's BC and eventually encompassed the vast majority of the subcontinent. Many later historians considered this period to be the first era when India was united as almost a single political entity.
One Maurya ruler, King Ashoka, converted to Buddhism and began implementing many Buddhist teachings, making the Buddhism the dominant religion in India for a period of time. Ashoka also originated the famous lion-capitol column that became a symbol of India, and remains as such under UIP rule.
Hinduism resurged back into dominance during the rule of Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta Maurya also pushed back against the Greek kingdoms to the northwest that had been set up in the wake of Alexander's conquests.
The subcontinent was again ruled as a whole during the period of the Mughal Empire. The Mughals were a dynasty of Muslim rulers who arrived from Afghanistan. The Mughals brought Islam to India, and constructed many architectural wonders, including the Taj Mahal. One of the most pivotal Mughal Emperors was Akbar, who established religious tolerance as the norm of his reign, and encouraged coexistence between Hindus and Muslims.
British dominance began in the late 1700's and was formally established after Indians attempted to defeat the British East India Company's armies in 1857. This led to the next 90 years of Indian history being dominated by an ultimately successful struggle for independence.
Post-Doomsday[]
After Doomsday, India took a turn for the worse. With Prime Minister Indira Gandhi having been out of the country on Doomsday en route to a United Nations summit in New York City, the majority of the country, including her own subordinates, believed her dead. With a massive drop-off in food imports and fertilizers, food shortages began to occur across various regions. Civil unrest, already at a high before Doomsday, became worse and worse. Crackdowns occurred against the rioters, and rebels, who in the state of unrest held more support than they had had previously. One of these crackdowns, against Sikh militants operating out of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, was controversial, but was justified by the leaderless government on the grounds that the activities of the militants meant it had to occur.
The Harmandir Sahib ("abode of God" in English), also known as the Golden Temple of Amritsar, with a Sikh guard visible in the foreground.
It proved a bad decision. Elements of Indira Gandhi's security retinue of both Sikh as well as a cadre of military officers took advantage of the power vacuum and assassinated what loyalists remained of her cabinet, effectively ending the government. Rebellion erupted in the Sikh areas of Punjab ,reigniting the movement for the creation of an independent state called Khalistan, alongside massive dissent, resignations and mutiny in both the civil service and the army. Elements of the army went over to the rebels as well. Taking advantage of the situation, the Maoist and Nationalist insurgents in the east took up arms. Both the eastern rebels and the Sikh rebels proved very successful, something which militants in the south readily noticed and took advantage of, adding to the problem. To top it all off, Pakistan took advantage of the situation, and invaded Kashmir, securing it. Other nationalities elsewhere rose up as well, which added to the stress caused by refugees, making the problem worse.
Between all of these activities, the army lost control of the situation. Their equipment, for the most part, was damaged or destroyed. Other states, loyal up to this point, isolated themselves from the entire matter and declared themselves independent, leaving the rump government in charge of only a few of the states, such as Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Formation of the Union Interim Parliament[]
Yet, most did not want it that way in the long-term. In the end, the rump government, the majority of the states which had isolated themselves form the troubles, and a few of the nationalities, made an agreement in 2003, with the help of ANZC negotiators, to join together in a loose union, the Union Interim Parliament, or UIP.
Initially, the new government was very weak, barely able to keep all the states together. It seemed like the newly unified country was going to disintegrate but with help from the ANZC and versatile Prime Minister Manmmohan Singh at the helm, things started to stabilize. Five Round Table Conferences were held with the final one occurring in January 2011. These helped give the "center" more powers and helped to establish a framework for the nation. The Jan Lokpal Bill was also passed through parliament as a result of the last Round Table Conference, decreasing corruption on a large scale.
A parade and rally were held in Bombay (as well as other celebrations nationwide) to celebrate the UIP's formal rechristening as the Union of India on August 15, 2008.
Birth of the Union of India[]
In 2008, the League of Nations recognized the Union Interim Parliament as the legitimate government of India. Spurred on by this diplomatic coup, Parliament leaders began to put in motion plans to drop the "interim" status of their government. The UIP formally declared itself the Union of India on August 15, 2008 (marking the 61st anniversary of India's independence from the British Empire in order to dovetail with resurgent Indian patriotism).
Recent Times[]
In recent years, good weather has helped to yield good harvests. Due to this, there has been improvements in rural areas and many have noticed slightly more rainfall in Rajasthan and Gujarat, helping to grow crops in lands which have been barren for decades and helping to increase underground water levels.
An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.9 hit the border region between the UIP state of Sikkim, and eastern Nepal on September 18th, 2011. Between Nepal, India, and Tibet, about 1100 people are believed to have died. India immediately began to aid survivors and clear rubble left over from the earthquake. Within a week, reconstruction work soon began in the damaged areas as the government looked to re-house the homeless.
On 24th of March 2013, an Indian MiG 21 crashed into the jungles of Bodoland. A search and rescue operation was launched to retrieve the downed pilot. He was found alive, albeit in bad condition and he was rushed to a nearby hospital. However, the rescue team send to retrieve the aircraft soon came into contact with local Bodoland militiamen who thought it was some sort of attack by Union of India. A firefight ensured, in which the rescue team managed to radio in for help and backup. By the time helicopters with reinforcements got there, many Indian soldiers had been killed. This led to the commencing of hostilities between Bodoland and India.
It soon became apparent that all SAC aid would soon be cut. And so the government decided to expand the offensive and take out all of the eastern breakaways in one large operation. On the 3rd of April, an offensive code-named "Operation Dissolution" was launched from Indian-held territories after nearly a week of buildups. Within a week, the initial phase of the operation was completed, and this was used to launch more offensives in the North East. After heavy and tedious fighting, the Indian troops managed to conquer all of the breakaways and on the 5th of June, the operation was deemed successful.
A new era in the affairs of the sub-continent now began with Indian control establishing control over its northeastern breakaways. The areas conquered have been put under military control and are now referred to as the East Military Zone.
An emotional Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announces the successful negotiations to convince Khalistan to rejoin the rest of India in 2015. Singh reportedly considered it one of the signature accomplishments of his tenure as Prime Minister.
Manmohan Singh was the only Prime Minister of the UIP era of Indian history and the first Prime Minister of the modern Union of India, and was also the first Sikh Prime Minister to rule most of the subcontinent. As a result, Singh considered it a personal mission to convince the breakaway Sikh territory of Khalistan to rejoin India. In a major breakthrough in 2014, Singh's negotiations finally succeeded. The Khalistan government agreed to join the Union of India after being convinced that a great deal of local autonomy would be allowed, and after years of reassurances and demonstrations that the Indian government was committed to respecting all of India's faiths. The new state of Khalistan joined India on January 1, 2015. Manmohan Singh considered it the signature accomplishment of his career.
Politics[]
Politics in the Union of India are a prickly issue as some parties blame the Congress party for its bad handling of post-doomsday India, while others applaud it for pulling a broken country together and minimizing the effects as much as possible. The main parties in India today include:
All India Congress Committee (Congress)
- Janta Party (JP)
- Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)
- Republican Party of India (RPI)
These parties usually battle it out on election day and are also dominant in membership across India as well. The latter two parties on the list are dedicated to helping Dalits (the lower caste populace) while the upper two mostly focus on the populace in general. The JP is seen as slightly more right-wing and has in recent years gained tremendous support due to the fact Kashmir now belongs to Pakistan and this has helped it see an increase in following. Congress, on the other hand, is slightly more left-wing and usually has the support of lower class voters. The party is the oldest party of the nation and has played a large hand in the nation's history. Both these parties, out of necessity, are very close to centre in ideological stance, however.
Government[]
The Union of India is a federation with a parliamentary system governed by the Constitution of the Union of India, which serves as the country's supreme legal document. It is a constitutional republic and representative democracy. Federalism in the UIP defines the power distribution between the federal government and the states. The Indian Constitution, which came into effect on 26 January 2010, states in its preamble that the Union of India is a sovereign, secular, democratic republic. The new constitution also gives much more power to the states in local affairs than they had been given with the old constitution established on 26 January 1950.
The Members of parliament are elected by universal (adult) suffrage based on a proportional representation system by state to a five year term.
The "center" has about half of the strength held by the government of India before Doomsday, an impressive feat considering they started out with almost nothing. The governments of the states have gradually allowed more power to sift through to the central government.
Nationally[]
As the government is made up of National government and the Government of the individual states, it is classified as a federal republic. The national government has power over issues like national security and defense, monetary policy, and other issues of a "national" scope. Therefore, these are handled at the "federal" level and the federal government has ultimate sovereignty.
The States[]
The states of the Union also maintain the federation, helping to decide road and infrastructure maintenance and education policy due to the local scope of the issues. The states do have much sovereignty granted, where the federal government does not have jurisdiction. It is up to each individual state as to what form of government they may have. It was this reassurance that ultimately convinced many breakaway states to rejoin the rest of India.
Military[]
Military-wise, the Union of India is slowly getting stronger. One major advantage is that Doomsday has left India as the most populated country on Earth, even after the civil wars of the 1980's.
Following Doomsday, the military ended up in the midst of a civil war around the country, and large portions of its equipment was destroyed. It has since worked to rebuild its army, even through the turmoil of the 90s and now hosts a pretty formidable army, largely in part to ANZC aid and Siberian equipment. Although the strength of the army is growing, the army is still plagued with supply problems and to counter this, a large military complex is being built while roads and railroads are being repaired and constructed to increase connectivity.
Service in the armed forces of India is entirely voluntarily and many citizens have joined to uphold the pride of their beloved country. Many citizens believe that the India's stance towards reconquering the breakaway states is the right way forward and support the government on this matter. This has helped create a loyal armed forces focused on defending and upholding the rights of the Union of India.
The army is the strongest part of the Union armed forces. It has around 1.3 million personnel serving actively, with another two million or so between reserves and militias. It is composed of infantry, artillery and armored units. Many of these armoured units had to either be repaired or had to be imported from ANZC and Siberia.
The air force of the Union is slowly but surely growing in number. There are around 20 MiG 29s in operation within the Union Air force, with many of these having been repaired from their dismal state post-doomsday, while the remaining 20 or so MiG 29s that remain are still undergoing repairs, but with the help of Siberia - which is helping to provide the parts to upgrade these aircraft. It has also acquired 15 Su-35s, and these will accompany form the main body of any air attacks on enemy lines and aircraft. Another outdated but still vital part of the Union Air Force is the fleet of around a 100 or so MiG-21s, which form the India's main body of aircraft for air-to-air combat. However, many sources have stated that India is eventually looking to completely replace these fast becoming obsolete aircraft.
The navy of the Union is perhaps the weakest arm of its armed forces. Currently possessing one aircraft carrier, which was almost lost at various points in the chaos years, the aircraft carrier has recently undergone an upgrade to repair damages and upgrade it to a satisfactory standard. However, much work still needs to be done to make it into a viable aircraft carrier.
The Union of India does, however, still have in its possession a few functional nuclear weapons produced by the Indian government before Doomsday, that were kept in Bombay. It has pledged never to use them - and in all likelihood, it would destroy itself if it did. Their current location is a state secret, though it is suspected that they have been moved to an island somewhere offshore of the sub-continent. With the minimal information available, these weapons are probably in bomb form as there is no indication India has missile technology which can transport nuclear weapons to their targets.
Each member of the Union Parliament, as per the treaty of union, operates its own reserve forces, much like the old National Guard of the United States, though each has more authority to act on its own than that entity. In reality, however, each move of these reserve forces is scrutinised heavily by the central government.
Economy[]
The economy of the Union of India is finally seeing the sunrise it has hoped for 25 years. After the collapse of India, the economies of survivor states were in complete disarray. Only after the formation of the UIP and continuous aid from the ANZC and other nations, has the country finally been able to be able to feed most of its people and establish an economic base. The nation now has a stable and rapidly growing economy, starting to provide much needed jobs for the populace while earning revenue for the government. This also has the positive side effect of helping to establish new industries for the manufacture of many goods.
Some leading economists have also predicted that India could have the capability of becoming an Asian Economic Tiger with continuous aid from other countries in the next decade. This, however, remains to be seen.
Agriculture[]
Agriculture plays an important part in the economy of the Union of India. Before Doomsday, the country boasted a large agricultural base. However, since Doomsday growing crops has become significantly harder. Recent imports, after long absences, of large quantities of fertilizers, has led to large increases in harvests. Government programs, designed to educate the population about better farming techniques such as the use of manure and crop rotating, has also helped this to occur.
Since the ending of SAC aid, local companies and corporations such as Tata have taken it upon themselves to produce these fertilizers for the farmers of India, thus causing a boom in the production of fertilizer in India. These fertilizers are sold at very cheap prices to help farmers to grow their crops without having to shell out too much money. It is hoped the fertilizer production levels will equal the amounts being donated to the Union by the SAC by April 2014 and to make sure this happens, the government has granted subsidies to many companies producing fertilizer.
Industry[]
Prior to the Doomsday, India was a largely agrarian economy with a substantial manufacturing base. But devastation carried out during the civil war ensured that most of it was destroyed. A New Economic Policy was established in the year 2005, two years after the (then-)UIP was founded, which paved way for other countries to invest in the nation easier.
Military aid from ANZC has helped India to establish a large Military Industrial Complex (MIC) and it is hoped that by the next decade, India has become a net exporter of arms and ammunition on account of cheap labour and raw material. Not only does this allow for the nation to earn more revenue each year, it also allows it to arm a greater number of soldiers and remove the cost of having to buy guns and ammunition from other nations'.
Within next five years after the New Economic Policy was established, India would break into the top ten economies of the world, in terms of gross GDP.
India's status as the most populated country on Earth in the post-Doomsday era has contributed heavily to its growing economic and military might.
Climate[]
The Indian climate was not directly effected by Doomsday, unlike the northern hemisphere. However, afterwards global effects on climate caused heatwaves and stronger monsoons to occur, hurting crop production.
It took until the 1990s for things to return to normal in this regard - though with slightly increased rainfall in some areas. The areas which saw most of the increased rainfall were Rajahstan and the Deccan region. This helped these areas to expand their crop land into previously marginal areas, eventually allowing them to feed more people than before.
International Relations[]
The Union of India is a member in the League of Nations. It has strong ties to the ANZC, whose military aid has allowed the government to reinstate authority over several breakaway states in the region. Their actions, however, has caused increased tensions with Pakistan and their supporter, the South American Confederation. SAC diplomats had threatened to cut India off from South American goods if the UIP continued to make war on the breakaway states. However, by the mid-2010s this had become a moot point, as the Union of India managed to return the breakaways to the fold. Meanwhile, the India/Pakistan border remains heavily militarized by both sides.
Relations with Bangladesh, however, are very good and both leaders have met various times to discuss various topics. Most of these topics have included the protection of wildlife, mainly the Bengal tiger and the Indian elephant.
Relations were re-opened with Siberia in 1994. Things have gotten off to a great start and trade is now occurring on a regular basis, with Siberia delivering a small number of aircraft and tanks for the armed forces. Both leaders have been meeting on a regular basis since 1995 to discuss military and trade issues as the vast natural reserves of the country remain untouched.
In the 21st century, international trade over vaster distances gradually became more common. The Union of India, now the world's most populous country and with one of the world's largest industrial bases, made efforts to reach out to overseas locations that included a high proportion of the Indian diaspora, including Mauritius, Fiji, and the Guyana Cooperative. In the case of Guyana, India agreed to help Guyana tap into its newly-discovered oil reserves in exchange for access to much of this oil. As a result, relations between India and Guyana have become quite warm, as India buys Guyanese oil, and the Guyanese public eagerly consumes Indian entertainment and finished products.
Sports[]
Cricket[]
The Ranji Trophy
Cricket has been the overwhelmingly most popular sport in India, both before and after Doomsday.
India fields a cricket team which has toured internationally. Most, if not all of the states, field a cricket team. The main format was the Ranji Trophy Cricket League which was hugely popular pre-Doomsday. It was suspended for a few years since doomsday due to the civil unrest happening in the country. However, after 2003, the league was re-established and has proved to be a great success.
Bombay winning the Trophy yet again!
Bombay has always fielded one of the best teams and has had some of the greatest Indian players on their team including Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid (their present captain). They have won the Ranji Trophy League many times and continue to field a brilliant team year in and year out.
There are plans for a cricket tour with the ANZC and maybe even the West Indies to boost interest in the sport, something aided greatly by the addition of Cricket as an Olympic sport, in which the men's team won a bronze at the 2012 games.
Football[]
India is a member of FIFA. The most support for football in the country comes from football-crazy Kolkata. Although, like most other sports, the craze for football nearly died out with Doomsday, it has seen a popular revival with the (apparent) stabilization of the country. The National Football League being re-established in India was mainly due to the fact that the people of Kolkata did not want to see football as a popular sport completely disappear from India.
Field Hockey[]
Before Doomsday, India fielded a world-renowned field hockey team. However, like all sports, it suffered a huge setback following the events of Doomsday and the subsequent collapse of India. Grass root support for the sport still remained, however, with interest once more picking up as the nation stabilised.
Entertainment[]
Bollywood[]
The term "Bollywood" refers to the Hindi language film industry (primarily based in northern India) as well as the musical soundtracks that are part and parcel of the same industry. Before Doomsday, Bollywood was enjoying what many critics referred to as its "Classic era."
After Doomsday, Bollywood was all but lost. Riots everywhere, breakaway states and violence all led to the film industry being closed down. However, with the UIP being established and Mumbai seeing new light, Bollywood was re-established, with tremendous success. At first, it was all propaganda, but after a year, more entertaining movies started to be made. Movies with Amitabh Bachchan were great hits with people who had watched his movies as children. More actors, such as Shah Rukh Khan, also took up the slack and starring in numerous movies, such as "Swades".
In the 2010s, many movies began to chafe at the government's censorship laws and explore previous taboo topics, as a new generation of filmmakers and actors rose to prominence. Meanwhile, as a notable effect of Prime Minister Singh's successful 2015 reintegration of Khalistan into the Union, a massive wave of Punjabi music began entering the Bollywood mainstream in the late 2010s, tacitly encouraged by the government in order to foster unity between the newly-rejoined Punjabi region and the rest of India.
Other Indian movie industries[]
India's other major language groups have had their own movie industries since before Doomsday. For instance, the Tamil language film industry (known as Tollywood) and Mollywood (Malayam language movie industry). Most of these industries suffered collapse in the 1980's following the post-Doomsday chaos, followed by gradual rebirths by the early 21st century.
Television[]
The television industry is mainly dominated by the state run channels of Doordarshan. These channels include Doordarshan National, Doordarshan Regional, Doordarshan Sport and Doordarshan News.
The television market in India has not expanded much since Doomsday and will continue to stagnate until the average person begins to earn a better livelihood. Although this is an accurate fact, manufacturers have begun to see a slight growth in television sales as trade deals with the ANZC and especially the USSR help to bring in more money to the economy and help increase growth levels, however.
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