The Republic of India is a country that occupies a greater part of South Asia. It borders Pakistan and Afghanistan in the northwest, the People's Republic of China, Nepal, and Bhutan in the north, and Bangladesh and Myanmar in the east. India's coastline stretches for over seven thousand kilometres. Its neighbours in the Indian Ocean are the island nations of the Maldives in the southwest, Sri Lanka in the south, and Indonesia in the southeast. India is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of over one billion and is the seventh largest country by geographical area. It is a constitutional republic consisting of twenty eight states and six union territories. The word India derives from the Old Persian cognate for the Sanskrit word Sindhu, the Indus river. The Constitution of India also recognises Bhārat listen (help·info) as an official name with equal status.

A centre of important historic trade routes, India is the home to some of the most ancient civilisations. India is the birthplace to four major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism and has the third largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan. India was a former colony of the British Empire under the British Raj before gaining independence on 15 August 1947. The country has witnessed significant economic and military growth after the liberalisation of the Indian economy.

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The Ramayana (Devanagari: रामायण) is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the poet Valmiki and is an important part of the Hindu canon (smṛti). The name Ramayana is a tatpurusha compound of Rama and ayana "going, advancing", translating to "the travels of Rama". The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in seven cantos (kandas) and tells the story of a prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon (Rakshasa) king of Lanka, Ravana. The Ramayana had an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry, primarily through its establishment of the Sloka meter.

One of the most important literary works on ancient India, the Ramayana has had a profound impact on art and culture in the Indian subcontinent. Starting from the 8th century, the colonisation of Southeast Asia by Indians began. Because of this, the Ramayana became popular in Southeast Asia and manifested itself in text, temple architecture and performance, particularly in Indonesia (Java, Sumatra and Borneo), Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Laos. (more...)

• October 27: Cyclone Rashmi crosses over to Bangladesh sparing West Bengal. (Press Trust of India)
• October 21: An Indian cargo ship with 13 sailors on board is hijacked by armed pirates off the northern coast of Somalia. (Hindustan Times)
• October 21: Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh arrives in Japan for summit talks with his counterpart Taro Aso. (Press Trust of India)
• October 21: "Cross-border" trade begins in Jammu and Kashmir as the Uri-Muzaffarabad road is opened for trade between the two sides. (IBNLive.com)
• October 21: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray is arrested and sent to judicial custody for 2 weeks. (NDTV)