Topic of the Day: India

Keywords: India

"The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world, dates back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated onto Indian lands about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish in the 12th were followed by those of European traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Indian armed forces in the British army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU brought independence in 1947. The subcontinent was divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan. A third war between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife."
Source: CIA - The World Factbook

News & Blogs:
India - Topix.net

Blogs:
IndiaDaily
Emergic
Sepia Mutiny
Atanu Dey on India's Development
Youth Curry - Insight on Indian Youth
India - SeekingAlpha
VentureWoods
India - Technorati
India - MyBlogLog
India - WordPress.com

Photos:
India - Flickr

Video:
India - Google Video
India - YouTube

Audio:
IndiaTech - Podtech.net

Media:
India - Digital Media Asia
ContentSutra

Discuss:
India - Orkut

Bookmarks:
del.icio.us/Monten/India

See also:
Company of the Week: Wipro - The World 2 Come
Topic of the Day: Outsourcing - The World 2 Come
Topic of the Day - The World 2 Come
Russia Blogs - The World 2 Come
The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century - The World 2 Come

Topic of the Day: Bulgaria

"Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeastern Europe, and a member state of the European Union. It borders the Black Sea to the east, Greece and Turkey to the south, Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Romania to the north, mostly along the Danube. Bulgaria also shares a maritime border with Turkey, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia. The capital of Bulgaria is Sofia.

Bulgaria is a country with an ancient history dating back to prehistoric times, the Thracian, Greek and Roman worlds of antiquity and the powerful Bulgarian Empire of the Middle Ages founded in 681. Geographically and climatically, Bulgaria is noted for its diversity, with the landscape ranging from the Alpine snow-capped peaks in Rila, Pirin and the Balkan Mountains to the mild and sunny weather of the Black Sea coast, from the typically continental Danubian Plain (ancient Moesia) in the north to the strong Mediterranean influence in the valleys of Macedonia and the lowlands in the southernmost parts of Thrace.

Bulgaria joined NATO on March 29, 2004 and the European Union on January 1, 2007."
Source: Wikipedia

News & Blogs:
Bulgaria - Topix.net

Photos:
Bulgaria - Flickr

Video:
Bulgaria - Google Video
Bulgaria - YouTube

Media:
Bulgaria - Digital Media Europe
Bulgarian Media Landscape

See also:
Topic of the Day - The World 2 Come

Topic of the Day: Turkey

Keywords: Turkey


"Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title Ataturk, or 'Father of the Turks.' Under his authoritarian leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. After a period of one-party rule, an experiment with multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power. Since then, Turkish political parties have multiplied, but democracy has been fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960, 1971, 1980), which in each case eventually resulted in a return of political power to civilians. In 1997, the military again helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a 'post-modern coup' - of the then Islamic-oriented government. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,' which only Turkey recognizes. A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - now known as the People's Congress of Kurdistan or Kongra-Gel (KGK) - has dominated the Turkish military's attention and claimed more than 30,000 lives. After the capture of the group's leader in 1999, the insurgents largely withdrew from Turkey, mainly to northern Iraq. In 2004, KGK announced an end to its ceasefire and attacks attributed to the KGK increased. Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. In 1964, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community; over the past decade, it has undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy, enabling it to begin accession membership talks with the European Union."
Source: CIA - The World Factbook

News & Blogs:
Turkey - Topix.net

Blogs:
Erkan's field diary
TurcoPundit
Turkey - Global Voices Online
Turkey - MyBlogLog

Photos:
Turkey - Flickr

Video:
Turkey - Google Video
Turkey - YouTube

Business:
Turkish Business

Media:
Turkey - Digital Media Europe
Turkey - Digital Media Asia
Media Landscape Turkey

Bookmarks:
del.icio.us/Monten/Turkey

See also:
Topic of the Day - The World 2 Come

Topic of the Day: United Kingdom

Keywords: United Kingdom

"As the dominant industrial and maritime power of the 19th century, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland played a leading role in developing parliamentary democracy and in advancing literature and science. At its zenith, the British Empire stretched over one-fourth of the earth's surface. The first half of the 20th century saw the UK's strength seriously depleted in two World Wars and the Irish republic withdraw from the union. The second half witnessed the dismantling of the Empire and the UK rebuilding itself into a modern and prosperous European nation. As one of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO, and of the Commonwealth, the UK pursues a global approach to foreign policy; it currently is weighing the degree of its integration with continental Europe. A member of the EU, it chose to remain outside the Economic and Monetary Union for the time being. Constitutional reform is also a significant issue in the UK. The Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly were established in 1999, but the latter is suspended due to wrangling over the peace process."
Source: CIA - The World Factbook

News & Blogs:
Google News U.K.
United Kingdom - Topix.net

Blogs:
British Blogosphere - LoicLeMeur Wiki
Londonist
Metroblogging London

Images:
United Kingdom - Flickr
Panoptics - London

Video:
United Kingdom - Google Video
United Kingdom - YouTube

Communities:
london.craigslist.org

Business:
UK business news - Moreover
UK law news - Moreover

Media:
United Kingdom - Digital Media Europe
UK media news - Moreover
British Media Landscape

Learn:
United Kingdom - About.com

Bookmarks:
del.icio.us/Monten/UK

See also:
Topic of the Day - The World 2 Come

Topic of the Day: European Union

"The European Union (EU) is a supranational and intergovernmental union of 25 (27 as of January 2007) independent, democratic member states. The European Union is the world's largest confederation of independent states, established under that name in 1992 by the Treaty on European Union (the Maastricht Treaty). However, many aspects of the Union existed before that date through a series of predecessor relationships, dating back to 1951."
Source: Wikipedia

News & Blogs:
European Union - Topix.net

Blogs:
European Blogosphere - LoicLeMeur Wiki
Pan/European Blogosphere - LoicLeMeur Wiki
Europe - MyBlogLog

Photos:
European Union - Flickr

Video:
European Union - Google Video
European Union - YouTube

Media:
European Union - Digital Media Europe
European Media Landscape

See also:
Topic of the Day - The World 2 Come