Biofertilizers

Bio-fertilizers are living or biologically active products or microbial inoculants of bacteria, algae and fungi which are able to enrich the soil with nirogen (N), phosphorus (P) and organic matter etc.

Following are some of the important types of bio-fertilizers which can be considered for agro based industries.

• Rhizobium Biofertilizer:- 
• Rhizobium is a symbiotic bacteria forming root nodules in legume plants. 
• The nodules act as miniature nitrogen production factories in the fields. The nodule bacteria fix more nitrogen than  needed for the legume plant and the bacteria.
• The surplus fixed nitrogen is secreted into the field and fertilizes the soil.
• Rhizobium is more efficient than free living nitrogen fixing bacteria and can fix upto 200kg N/ha/year.

• Azotobactor Biofertilizer:-
• Azotobacter are aerobic free living nitrogen fixers. They grow in the rhizosphere (around the roots) and fix the atmospheric nitrogen non-symbiotically and make it available to particular cereals.
• These bacteria produce growth promoting hormones which helps in enhancing growth and yield of the plant.
• These are free living bacteria which grow well on a nitrogen free medium. 
• These bacteria utilize atmospheric nitrogen gas for their cell protein synthesis. This cell protein is then mineralised in soil after the death of Azotobacter cells thereby contributing towards the nitrogen availability of the crop plants.
• Azotobacter spp.,are sensitive to acidic pH, high salts, and temperature above 350C.
• There are four important species of Azotobacter viz. A.Chroococcum, A.agilis, A.paspali and A.vinelandii of which A.chroococcum is most commonly found in our soils.
• The species of Azotobacter are known to fix on an average 10 mg.of N/g of sugar in pure culture on a nitrogen free medium

• Azospirillium Biofertilizer:-
• The are aerobic free living nitrogen fixers which live in associative symbiosis.
• In this type of symbiosis bacteria live on the roots of the host plant and do not form any nodule with the roots.
• It increases crop yield and inoculation benefits crops.
• They also help the host plant by supplying growth hormones and vitamins.
• These bacteria are commonly used for preparation of commercial inoculants.
• Note:-
• Microbial inoculants also known as soil inoculants are agricultural amendments that use beneficial endophytes (microbes) to promote plant health. 
• Many of the microbes involved form symbiotic relationships with the target crops where both parties benefit (mutualism).
• While microbial inoculants are applied to improve plant nutrition, they can also be used to promote plant growth by stimulating plant hormone production
• Blue Green Algae:-
• Blue Green Algae (BGA or cyanobacteria) like Nostoc or Anabaena are free living photosynthetic organisms also capable of fixing the atmospheric nitrogen.
• In the flooded rice fields blue green algae serves as the nitrogen biofertilizer.
• When environmental conditions are just right, blue-green algae can grow very quickly in number. 
• Most species are buoyant and will float to the surface, where they form scum layers or floating mats. When this happens, we call this a "blue-green algae bloom."
• Azolla Biofertilizer:-
• Azolla is a water fern inside which grows the nitrogen fixing blue green algae Anabaena.
• It contains 2-3% nitrogen when wet and also produces organic matter in the soil.
• The Azolla Anabaena combination type biofertilizer is used in the whole world. 
• The only constraint in azolla is that it is an aquatic plant and water becomes a limiting factor in growing it particularly in the summer months.
• Phosphorus Solubilising Biofertilizer:-
• Phosphorus is an important element required for plant growth. 
• This element is needed for nodulation by rhizobium.
• Some micro-organisms are capable of of solubilising immobilised phosphorus  making it available to plants for absorption.
• Mycorrhizal Fungi Biofertilizer:-
• It acts as a biofertizer and occurs naturally on roots of the forest trees and crop plants.
• The fungi has the ability to dissolve and absorb phosphorus that plant roots can not readily absorb.
• In soils low in nutrients, there is an increased absorption of nutrients by plants infected with Mycorhhiza.

Duars

Duars, also spelled Dwars or Dooars, region of northeastern India, at the foot of the east-central Himalayas. The name Duars (“Doors”) is derived from the several passes that lead from the region into the Lesser Himalayas. Area 3,400 square miles (8,800 square km).

It is divided by the Sankosh River into the Western and Eastern Duars. Both were ceded by Bhutan to the British at the end of the Bhutan War (1864–65). 

• The Eastern Duars, in western Assam state, comprises a level plain intersected by numerous rivers and only slightly populated. 
• The Western Duars lies in northern West Bengal state and is a portion of the Tarai, a lowland belt linking the Himalayas and the plains region. The Western Duars is an important centre of the tea industry. 

The Western Dooars is known as the Bengal Dooars and the Eastern Dooars as the Assam Dooars. 

• Dooars is synonymous with the term Terai used in Nepal and northern India.

The Dooars belonged to the Kamata Kingdom under the Koch dynasty; and taking advantage of the weakness of the Koch kingdom in subsequent times, Bhutan took possession of the Dooars. 

This region was controlled by the kingdom of Bhutan when the British annexed it in 1865 after the Bhutan War under the command of Captain Hedayat Ali. 

The area was divided into two parts: the eastern part was merged with Goalpara district in Assam and the western part was turned into a new district named Western Dooars. 

• Again in the year 1869, the name was changed to Jalpaiguri District. 

After the end of the British rule in India in 1947, the Dooars acceded into the dominion of India and it merged with the Union of India shortly afterwards in 1949.

The Dooars region politically constitutes the plains of Darjeeling District, the whole of Jalpaiguri district and Alipurduar district and the upper region of Cooch Behar district in West Bengal and the districts of Dhubri, Kokrajhar, Barpeta, Goalpara and Bongaigaon in the state of Assam.

The beauty of the region lies not only in its tea gardens but also in the dense jungles that make up the countryside. 

• Many wildlife sanctuaries and national park like Manas National Park in Assam, 
• Jaldapara National Park, Buxa National Park, Gorumara National Park, Chapramari Wildlife Reserve and the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary in West Bengal are located in this region.

A number of rare endangered species of animals like tiger, rhinoceros and elephant make their habitat in the forests of the Dooars. 

• Other animals includes different types of deer, bison, birds and reptiles. 

source: wikipedia and encyclopedia

Electoral Reforms

Elections in India bring out the real character and strength of the world's largest democracy. Since the first general elections in 1952, democracy has been marching from strength to strength.

And EC has gradually been evolving and developing its own mechanisms, modalities, techniques, rules and norms to ensure an almost peaceful change of government at the national and provincial levels amidst an aura of cynicism and despondency. 

• EC is one of the most sought after Indian agencies for sharing its expertise and experience in the conduct of democratic elections across the world. 

The Election Commission has introduced several reforms from time to time in the conduct of elections which inter alia include 

• a switchover from the ballot paper to the electronic voting machine (EVM), 
• proxy voting for NRIs and those in the armed forces, 
• introduction of the partial right to reject through NOTA (None of the Above) in keeping with Section 49 of the Representation of People's Act, 1951, 
• induction of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) for reinforcing transparency in voting, 
• introduction of Elector's Photo Identity Card (EPIC) to pre-empt impersonation and bogus voting, 
• conduct of elections under the supervision of ECI Observers and Central Police Forces (CPF), 
• use of information technology for improving the level of efficiency and transparency,
•  a bar on contesting for convicted criminals and 
• introduction of a Model Code of Conduct during the elections. 

Problem with EVM:-

• A negative feature of EVM voting is that the contesting candidates or political parties get to know which polling stations have voted for them and which have not, something which was not possible in the ballot voting system as all the ballot papers of a particular constituency were duly bundled and mixed before they were actually counted.

The latter made it difficult to figure out the voting trends. However, one can easily ascertain from the EVM counting process, such as it exists, as to which set of voters has favoured a candidate or a political party thereby making it possible to identify the rival voters and victimize them in various ways. 

EC has already suggested to the Government of India the introduction of 'Totalizer' which would pre-empt any such negative eventuality of witch hunting the hapless voters for their democratic choice, as witnessed in many regions of the country. 

Money power influence:-

The EC's effort to cleanse the electoral system of the negative influence of money power will come to nought once it expects the candidates to spend their own money on election campaigns. 

• Many political parties argue that if the EC expects a candidate to spend the permissible amount (Rs.70 lakh for a parliamentary constituency and Rs 28 lakh for an Assembly constituency on an average), then how does it expect them to marshal that amount for the campaign.

The political parties or the candidates are forced to indulge in corruption and corrupt practices because of the huge cost of an Indian election. 

Hence the suggestion offered by certain quarters that EC should not only increase the expenditure ceilings which are absurd given the size of constituencies, but they should also be customized to the nature and character of the constituency.

• After all, the expenditure requirements of a rural or urban constituency or a big or small state can't be the same. Again, while the expenditure ceiling for an Assembly constituency is Rs.28 lakh, it is a meager Rs.70 lakh for a parliamentary constituency even though the latter covers seven Assembly constituencies. Therefore, these expenditure ceilings need to be staggered and customized after factoring the real expenditure requirements of the different constituencies.

A legal discrepancy is the fact that even if a contesting candidate exceeds the stipulated expenditure ceiling, he/she can't be disqualified as a legislator.

In the ultimate analysis, the expenditure ceiling remains a paper tiger. 

State Funding of Election Expense:-

• Another very important proposal has been the state funding of election expenses of candidates. 
• While the proposal involves huge expenditure for a poor, developing country like India, a beginning can definitely be made with respect to election expenses of, at least, recognized national and state parties polling above a certain percentage of votes and meeting such other conditions as may be specified by EC. 
• Funding of political parties by corporate houses or businessmen is also quite opaque. This needs to be streamlined and made further transparent for weeding out the influence of ill-gotten money and for ensuring a level playing field in our electoral system.

Democratization of Political Parties:-

Another incongruity is the existence of undemocratic political parties in a democratic country. 

While all our political parties swear by democracy and democratic ethos, they themselves run some of the most undemocratic organisations in the country. 

Most of these parties seldom conduct their organisational elections. Party posts are allotted as a favour from the party leaders. 

• Elevation to any party's apex level is very opaque. By and large, party functionaries are selected rather than than elected. 
• Haryana has stipulated the minimum educational and other qualifications, including the provision of a sanitary toilet at home, for being eligible to contest elections to the local bodies. 
• It has been argued that similar minimum qualifications, educational or economic, ought to be introduced for our legislators as well. 
• The usual refrain is that if there could be minimum qualification for a peon or a clerk, then why not for our lawmakers who also hold such significant positions as Ministers, Chief Minister or Prime Minister.
• Even though such a stipulation could bar a large percentage of our population from participating in electoral politics, the time has definitely come to start a debate on the advisability of such a qualification.

Model Code of Conduct:-

The model code, which the EC enforces so strictly, is often overdone. And if elections are stretched over two to three months, the development projects almost come to a halt. 

Even though certain essential projects are allowed, the approval procedures are so rigorous that more often than not many welfare schemes suffer. 

• Such schemes and programmes, which have been announced and budgeted prior to the announcement of elections, should be allowed to be executed without any conditions. 

The announcement of new schemes by the interim government may continue to be banned. The time has come to trust the wisdom of voters to see through the machinations of the political class and be able to separate the chaff from the grain.

source:statesman 

Project Snow Leopard

The Project Snow Leopard is an initiative for strengthening wildlife conservation in the Himalayan high altitudes, covering Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. 

• It aims at promoting a knowledge-based and adaptive conservation framework that fully involves the local communities, who share the snow leopard’s range, in conservation efforts.
• The project will be operational in five Himalayan States viz. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh with active support from wildlife institute of India and the Mysore based Nature Conservation Foundation. 
• The Project Snow Leopard is an Innovative project that would help to arrest species declines in the Indian high altitudes and would lead to conservation based on sound scientific plans and local support. 
• Species such as Snow Leopard, Asiatic Ibex, Tibetan Argali, Ladakh Urial, Chiru, Takin, Serow and Musk Deer will particularly benefit from this project. 

Predators such as the snow leopard — at the apex of ecological pyramid — suffered the most partly on account of their relatively smaller population and also because of man-animal conflict. 

This situation got aggravated by the hostile landscape forming its habitat.

• “Considering these facts, snow leopard has been included in the list of species under Recovery Programme to be funded through the umbrella scheme of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats,”

With nearly 750 snow leopards in the country, the project will facilitate a landscape-level approach to wildlife conservation by developing scientific frameworks for comprehensive surveys, rationalising the existing protected area network and improving protected area management. 

It will develop a framework for wildlife conservation outside protected areas and promote ecologically responsible development.

The project will encourage focused conservation and recovery programmes for endangered species, promote stronger measures for wildlife protection and law enforcement and better understand and manage human-wildlife conflict. It will reduce existing anthropogenic pressures on natural resources and promote conservation education.

Snow Leopard is globally endangered species as well as the most important flagship species of the mountain region. 

• They are at the apex of ecological pyramid suffer the most on account of relatively smaller population size and also because of man-animal conflict. 
• This situation further gets aggravated by the hostile landscape forming its habitat. 

The biodiversity of the Himalayans includes at least 350 species of mammals, 1200 species of birds, species of amphibians and reptiles, and numerous plants including many with medicinal properties. 

Over 335 species of wild relatives of cultivated crops are also found in the region. There are numerous biologically important wetlands that form breeding grounds for waterfowl. 

These areas also provide vital ecosystem services that are important for the dense human populations downstream and in the Indo-Gengetic plans. 

• The project stresses on a landscape approach to conservation wherein smaller core zones with relatively conservation values will be identified and conserved with support and the larger landscape will be managed in such a way that it allows necessary development benefits to the local communities. 

The project thus places greater importance to careful and knowledge-based management planning of the landscapes. The adaptive management planning will involve participation of all key stakeholders so that action is taken by incorporating local wisdom and support. 

For facilitating effective planning and action, the project will set up enabling administrative mechanisms from the village duster level to the Central Government. 

• At the Central level, a Steering Committee chaired by Director General of Forests & Special Secretary to the Government of India will help guide the project. 

Each State will have a State Snow Leopard Conservation Society that will coordinate work by the Landscape-level Implementation Committees, which in turn will coordinate work by the village Wildlife Conservation Committees. 

The Montreux Record and Ramsar sites

The list of Ramsar sites in India comprises wetlands deemed to be of  "International Importance" under the Ramsar convention.

The Montreaux Record is a voluntary mechanism to highlight specific wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention, but which are facing immediate challenges. 

In particular, the Montreux Record is a register of listed Ramsar sites where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological developments, pollution or other human interference.

At present, 51 sites were listed in the Montreaux Record. 

The Montreaux Record was established by Recommendation 4.8 at the 1990 cop. 

• Indian sites in the Montreaux Record are Keoladeo National Park-Rajasthan, Loktak Lake – Manipur.

List of Indian wetlands under Ramsar Convention:

Sr. No.	Name of Wetland	State	Date of Declaration
1.	Chilika lake	Orissa	01 – 10 – 1981
2.	Keoladeo National park	Rajasthan	01 – 10 – 1981
3.	Harike Lake	Punjab	23 – 03 – 1990
4.	Loktak Lake	Manipur	23 – 03 – 1990
5.	Sambhar Lake	Rajasthan	23 – 03 – 1990
6.	Wular Lake	Jammu Kashmir	23 – 03 – 1990
7.	Ashtamudi wetland	Kerala	19 – 08 – 2002
8.	Bhitarkanika Mangroves	Orissa	19 – 08 – 2002
9.	Bhoj wetland	Madhya Pradesh	19 – 08 – 2002
10.	Deepor Beel	Assam	19 – 08 – 2002
11.	East Calcutta wetlands	West Bengal	19 – 08 – 2002
12.	Kanjili	Punjab	22 – 01 – 2002
13.	Ropar P	unjab	22 – 01 – 2002
14.	Kolleru Lake	Andhra Pradesh	19 – 08 – 2002
15.	Point calimere	Tamil Nadu	19 – 08 – 2002
16.	Pong Dam Lake	Himachal Pradesh	19 – 08 – 2002
17.	Sasthamkotta Lake	Kerala	19 – 08 – 2002
18.	Tsomoriri	Jammu & Kashmir	19 – 08 – 2002
19.	Vembanad-kol wetland	Kerala	19 – 08 – 2002
20.	Chandertal wetland	Himachal Pradesh	08 – 11 – 2005
21.	Hokera wetland	Jammu & Kashmir	08 – 11 – 2005
22.	Renuka wetland	Himachal Pradesh	08 – 11 – 2005
23.	Rudrasagar Lake	Tripura	08 – 11 – 2005
24.	Surinsar-Mansar Lakes	Jammu & Kashmir	08 – 11 – 2005
25.	Upper Ganga River	Uttar Pradesh	08 – 11 – 2005 (Brijghat to Narora stretch)

Ramsar Convention on Wetland

The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. 

There are presently 158 Contracting Parties to the Convention, with 1758 wetland sites, totaling 161 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. Ramsar Convention is the only global environment treaty dealing with a particular ecosystem.

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands was developed as a means to call international attention to the rate at which wetland habitats were disappearing, in part due to a lack of understanding of their important functions, values, goods and services. Governments that join the Convention are expressing their willingness to make a commitment to helping to reverse that history of wetland loss and degradation.

In addition, many wetlands are international systems lying across the boundaries of two or more countries, or are part of river basins that include more than one country. The health of these and other wetlands is dependent upon the quality and quantity of the transboundary water supply from rivers, streams, lakes, or underground aquifers. This requires framework for international discussion and cooperation toward mutual benefits. The text of the Convention and other details can be accessed on Ramsar Convention's website ( www.ramsar.org)

Major obligations of countries which are party to the Convention are:

• Designate wetlands for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance.
• Promote, as far as possible, the wise use of wetlands in their territory.
• Promote international cooperation especially with regard to transboundary wetlands, shared water systems, and shared species.
• Create wetland reserves.

World Wetland Day

World Wetlands Day which is celebrated each year on 2 February, marks the date of the adoption of the Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea. 

World Wetlands Day was celebrated for the first time on February 2, 1997, on the 16th anniversary of the Ramsar Convention.

 Each year since 1997, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and groups of citizens at all levels of the community have taken advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness of wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular.

Index of Industrial Production

Index of Industrial Production 

• The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index for India which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mining, electricity and manufacturing. 
• Base year is 2004-05
• The all India IIP is a composite indicator that measures the short-term changes in the volume of production of a basket of industrial products during a given period with respect to that in a chosen base period. 
• It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) six weeks after the reference month ends.
• IIP is compiled using data received from 15 source agencies viz. (i) Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP); (ii) Indian Bureau of Mines; (iii) Central Electricity Authority; (iv) Joint Plant Committee, Ministry of Steel; (v) Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas; (vi) Office of Textile Commissioner; (vii) Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals; (viii) Directorate of Sugar & Vegetable Oils; (ix) Department of Fertilizers; (x) Tea Board; (xi) Office of Jute Commissioner; (xii) Office of Coal Controller; (xiii) Railway Board; (xiv) Office of Salt Commissioner; and (xv) Coffee Board.

• The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an abstract number or ratio which measures the growth of various sectors in the economy. 

• In India, IIP is a representative figure which measures the general level of Industrial activity in the country. 

• Being an abstract number, it does not show volume of activity and only shows the magnitude which represents the status of production in the industrial sector for a given period of time as compared to a reference period of time. 

• The 8 Core Industries viz. Fertilizers, Electricity, Refinery Products, Natural Gas, Steel, Cement, Crude Oil and coal [remember this by mnemonic FERNS-C3] is nearly 38% in the IIP. 

This is shown in decreasing order as follows: Electricity 10.32; Steel (Alloy + Non-alloy) 6.68; Refinery Products 5.94; Crude Oil 5.22; Coal 4.38; Cement 2.41; Natural Gas 1.71; Fertilizers 1.25.

SERVIR-Mekong

SERVIR-Mekong is a geospatial data for development program designed to respond to such needs of the Lower Mekong countries. 

A United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) partnered joint development initiative, SERVIR-Mekong works in partnership with leading regional organizations to improve environmental management through increased application of geo spatial nalysis.

A five-year regional project (2014-2019), SERVIR-Mekong targets the countries whose ecosystems are affected by the Mekong River, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and Vietnam.

The program is implemented by the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) in consortium with Spatial Informatics Group (SIG), Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), and Deltares. 

The overarching program goal of SERVIR-Mekong is to improve environmental management and resilience to climate change in the Lower Mekong Region through the increased application of geospatial analysis to critical, urgent, or common policy and planning needs. 

The program adopts a demand-driven approach to assess and address the needs of the region, including an open call mechanism for users of geospatial information to request the development of new tools or to obtain needed data. 

This regional program is part of the SERVIR Global network that works in over 30 countries, bringing “space to village” and helping communities around the world develop local solutions to global issues through satelite and mapping technology.

Payments Banks

Key features of the Payments Banks guidelines are:

i) Objectives:

The objectives of setting up of payments banks will be to further financial inclusion by providing 

(i) small savings accounts and 

(ii) payments/remittance services to migrant labour workforce, low income households, small businesses, other unorganised sector entities and other users.

ii) Eligible promoters :

1. Existing non-bank Pre-paid Payment Instrument (PPI) issuers; and other entities such as individuals / professionals; Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs), corporate Business Correspondents(BCs), mobile telephone companies, super-market chains, companies, real sector cooperatives; that are owned and controlled by residents; and public sector entities may apply to set up payments banks.
2. A promoter/promoter group can have a joint venture with an existing scheduled commercial bank to set up a payments bank. However, scheduled commercial bank can take equity stake in a payments bank to the extent permitted under Section 19 (2) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
3. Promoter/promoter groups should be ‘fit and proper’ with a sound track record of professional experience or running their businesses for at least a period of five years in order to be eligible to promote payments banks.

iii) Scope of activities :

1. Acceptance of demand deposits. Payments bank will initially be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs. 100,000 per individual customer.
2. Issuance of ATM/debit cards. Payments banks, however, cannot issue credit cards.
3. Payments and remittance services through various channels.
4. BC of another bank, subject to the Reserve Bank guidelines on BCs.
5. Distribution of non-risk sharing simple financial products like mutual fund units and insurance products, etc.

iv) Deployment of funds :

1. The payments bank cannot undertake lending activities.
2. Apart from amounts maintained as Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) with the Reserve Bank on its outside demand and time liabilities, it will be required to invest minimum 75 per cent of its "demand deposit balances" in Statutory Liquidity Ratio(SLR) eligible Government securities/treasury bills with maturity up to one year and hold maximum 25 per cent in current and time/fixed deposits with other scheduled commercial banks for operational purposes and liquidity management.

v) Capital requirement :

The minimum paid-up equity capital for payments banks shall be Rs. 100 crore.

1. The payments bank should have a leverage ratio of not less than 3 per cent, i.e., its outside liabilities should not exceed 33.33 times its net worth (paid-up capital and reserves).

vi) Promoter's contribution: The promoter's minimum initial contribution to the paid-up equity capital of such payments bank shall at least be 40 per cent for the first five years from the commencement of its business.

vii) Foreign shareholding: The foreign shareholding in the payments bank would be as per the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy for private sector banks as amended from time to time.

viii) Other conditions :

1. The operations of the bank should be fully networked and technology driven from the beginning, conforming to generally accepted standards and norms.
2. The bank should have a high powered Customer Grievances Cell to handle customer complaints.

Dance in India

Dance in India has an unbroken tradition of over 2,000 years. Its themes are derived from mythology,  legends and classical literature. Its two main divisions are classical and folk.

• In traditional Indian culture the function of dance was to give symbolic expression to religious ideas. The figure of Lord Shiva as Nataraja represents the creation and destruction of the cosmic cycle.

Classical dance forms are based on ancient dance discipline and have rigid rules of presentation. Important among them are Bharata Natyam, Kathakali, Kathak, Manipuri, Kuchipudi and Odissi.

Features:-

• Mudra or hand gestures are used by the artists as a short-hand sign language to narrate a story and to demonstrate certain concepts.

• Many classical dances include facial expressions as an integral part of the dance form.

• Nartanam: Dances performed inside the sanctum of the temple according to the rituals.

• Carnatakam Dances were performed in royal courts.

A. Bharata Natyam (Tamil Nadu)

• The Abhinaya Darpana by Nandikesvara is one of the main sources of textual material, for the study of the technique and grammar of body movement in Bharatnatyam Dance.

• The style was kept alive by the devadasis, who were young girls 'gifted' by their parents to the temples and were married to the gods.

• The dance movements are characterized by bent legs, while feet keep rhythm. Hands may be used in a series of mudra.

• Instruments used in Bharatnatyam are Mridangam, Violin, Veena, Flute and Talam.

B. Kathakali ( Kerala)

• The word Kathakali literally means "Story-Play".

• Kathakali is known for its heavy, elaborate makeup and costumes. The dancers wear large head dresses, and the different colors of the face are extended with moulded lime.

• Kathakali dance presents themes derived from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and other Hindu epics, mythologies and legends.

• Kathakali is traditionally performed by boys and men, even for female roles.

• Instruments used in Kathakali are Chenda, Maddalam, Cymbals and Ela taalam.

C. Kathak (North India)

• Kathak, meaning "the art of storytelling."

• It is performed by both men and women.

• The movements include intricate footwork accented by bells worn around the ankles and stylized gesture adapted from normal body language.

• The advent of Islamic rule in the 13th century greatly influenced the Indian culture, having a direct impact on Kathak. (It was introduced as a form of entertainment in the courts and developed its own distinct and individualistic style).

• Lucknow, Banaras and Jaipur are recognized as the three schools.
  • Instruments used in Kathak are Pakwaj, Tabla, Harmonium, Sarengi and Talam (cymbals).

D. Manipuri( Manipur)

• The most striking part of Manipur dance is its colorful decoration, lightness of dancing foot, delicacy of abhinaya (drama), smooth and graceful movements.

• The Manipuri dance form is mostly ritualistic and draws heavily from the rich culture of the state of Manipur.

• Among the important feature of the Manipuri repertoire are the Sankirtana and the Raas Leela, based on the devotional theme of Krishna and Radha.

• Another vibrant feature of Manipuri is the Pung Cholam or Drum dance, in which dancers play on the drum known as Pung.

• The Lai Haroba, a ritualistic dance depicting the Creation, is considered the precursor of Manipuri as seen today.

• Instruments used in Manipuri are Pung and Cymbals.

E. Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh)

• Kuchipudi exhibits scenes from the Hindu epics, legends and mythological tales through a combination of music, dance and acting.

• Traditionally the dance was performed by men, even the female roles, although now it is predominantly performed by women.

• Taranagam is the main unique piece of Kuchpudi repertoire, also known as plate (made by brass) dance. In that the dancer dance upon a brass plate, placing the feet upon the raised edges.

• Instruments used in Kuchipudi are Mridangam, Violin, Veena, Flute and Talam.

Odissi (Odisha)

• Originating in the Devadasi tradition, it is predominantly a dance for women, with postures that replicate those found in temple sculptures.

• Like other Indian classical dance forms, Odissi has two major facets:

i. Nritta, in which ornamental patterns are created using body movements in space and time.

ii. Abhinaya, or facial expressions are used to interpret a story or theme.

• Tribhangi, (thrice deflected posture) in which the body is bent in three places, the shape of a helix.

• Instruments were used in Odissi are Pakwaj, table, harmonium, flute and cymbals.

G. Sattriya (Assam)

• Sattriya Nritya was usually performed in the Sattras (Assam monasteries) in a highly ritialistic manner by male dancers alone.

• The core of Sattriya Nritya has usually been mythological stories.

• Dressed in white costumes and turbans, head gears, they include khol-patital, boratal-cymbals playing, performing dance, creating soundscapes, floor patterns and choreographic designs.

• Both solo and group numbers enrich its presentation. The dresses are usually made of pat, a type of silk produced in Assam.