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| Passport
& Visa |
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The Consular Passport
and Visa division is responsible for issuance of passport and visa
to persons of Indian Origin. You can download a form as well as
browse for information on at http://passport.nic.in/.
For visitors to the country, visas are available from the Indian
missions in each country. Six month multiple-entry visas are now
issued to most nationals regardless of the intended duration of
stay.
Generally a tourist visa is given for 6 months while a business
visa can be issued for one or more year with multiple entries.
Transit visas are issued for a maximum period of 15-days with single/double
entry facilities to bonafide transit passengers only.
Conference visas are issued for attending conferences, seminars,
or meetings in India. A letter of invitation from the organiser
of the conference needs to be submitted along with the visa application.
The fee structure depends on the nationality of the passport holder
and type/duration of visa applied. It ranges from $5 for a to $50
for a visa with a one-year validity. |
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India's official language
is Hindi in the Devanagri script. It is the primary tongue of 30%
of the people.
The States are free to decide their own regional languages for internal
administration and education, so there are 18 official languages
spoken throughout the country. Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil,
Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Kashmiri
and Sindhi, are among the official languages which are also widely
spoken. Sanskrit though an official language is hardly ever used
except in rituals and ceremonies.
While English enjoys associate status, it is widely spoken and is
one of the most important languages for national, political, and
commercial communication.
In all there are 24 different languages, each spoken by a million
or more persons; as well as millions of other languages and dialects. |
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As the birthplace of
four major religions that exist even today, India is rightfully
known as the land of spirituality and philosophy. The most dominant
religion in India today is Hinduism with almost 81% of the people
being Hindus. One of the truly ancient religions of the world, Hinduism
is believed to have developed nearly 5000 years ago.
Around 500 BC two other religions made their mark in India: Buddhism
and Jainism and today while these two religions together account
for no more than 1.2% of the population, their impact on Indian
culture and sensibility is far in excess of that. Between them these
three ancient religions - Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism - moulded
Indian philosophy and thinking. One comparatively new religion in
India is Sikhism which was established in the 15th century. Today
about 2% of Indians are Sikhs. There were other attempts to create
new religions in India, and though they did not always succeed,
they add to the mystic lore and spiritual depth of the land. For
example, the great Mughal emperor, Akbar, who reigned between 1556
and 1605, tried to establish a new religion, Din-E-Elahi. Sadly,
it did not survive.
Along with the religions that developed in India, there are followers
of non-Indian religions as well. Islam is the chosen faith of a
hefty 12% of India's population. Christians account for more than
2%, and Zoroastrians (Parsis) though a tiny minority, still make
their presence felt. There are also a few thousand Jews in India. |
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Local and long distance
services are provided throughout all regions of the country. The
field has recently been opened up to the private sector.
You can pick up a mobile phone connection from most departmental
stores and often even at small roadside stores. The service provided
by these private companies is on par with the best in the world.
The international direct dialing code for India is 91.
International 24-hour fax, telex, and telegram services are available
from large hotels and telegraph offices in major cities. |
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