When thought of writing and researching about a country I knew the least about, I couldn't resist thinking about India. The country where I was born and to whom I owe my heritage is full of paradoxical mysteries. The land of linguistic, cultural, racial and culinary diversity often seems to be generalised and stereotyped. I seem to know a lot yet feel ignorant when it comes to facts about India.

Sharing some facts about India which I researched about:

1. If you are a non-Indian:It is illegal to keep Indian passport if you acquired citizenship of another country. Also, it is illegal for foreigners or non-Indians to take Indian currency (₹) out of India.
2. The most expensive home: Mukesh Ambani's "Antilia" is the most expensive private home on this planet constructed with whopping $689 million and the cost of the land contributing together towards $ 1 billion . It has 27 floors, 3 helipads, 6-floor car park, 4-storey hanging garden, a cinema and around 600 staff members working in it 24x7.

   Source

3. The largest civilian evacuation operation in the history of mankind: Only after watching Airlift, a recent bollywood movie of Akshay Kumar, I found out about the civilian evacuation operation which was successfully completed by Indian Government with the help of Air India . It was indeed the largest civilian evacuation operation done ever in the world which saved the lives of 1,70,000 Indians stranded in Kuwait during Gulf War when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Indians living in Kuwait had nowhere to go and were scared of their lives. Over the course of 59 days, it took 488 Air India flights to evacuate all the stranded Indians from Kuwait to India for which Air India still holds the Guinness Book of World Record. 
4. Dolphins cannot be kept captive: India is fourth and the largest country to put a ban on captivating dolphins. According to the scientists who researched on dolphins stated that dolphins have high intelligence and sensitivity closer to humans and thus can be regarded as "non-human persons". They should also have their own rights and it is morally unacceptable to keep them captive for entertainment reasons.
5. Unbeaten Kabaddi world cup winners: India has never been beaten in any of the Kabaddi world cups ever held till date. Both in men's and women's category, India has been invincible in any of the league games of Kabaddi and has always won the world cup for the country.
   

   Source

6. Stark financial inequality: According to the Asia-Pacific 2016 Wealth Report by New World Wealth, India is amongst the top 5 nations in Asia Pacific with her total numbers of individuals whose net worth is $1 million or more. India ranks 4th on the list with 2,36,000 such high net worth individuals. In correlation to the above achievement, India is also at the bottom of per capita income. Even though the World Bank's data shows that India's gross national income per person has increased from previous years but it is solely due to the addition of new millionaires into the list rather than the overall increase in income levels. Sadly, to buy a big mac from McDonald's in India, an average person has to work 6 hours.
7.  The largest free kitchen inside Golden Temple: Everyone knows that Golden Temple is Mecca of Sikhs but this is not entirely true. Golden Temple, also known as Shri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar city of Punjab, feeds more than 100,000 people every day irrespective of their religion, race and class. The food is entirely free and never runs out at this holy shrine. The langar or free kitchen service is practised in the temple everyday where everyone, sits cross-legged, row upon row and enjoys the food without paying anything for the food.

   Source

8. Pollution - a silent killer: According to a report by Global Burden of Disease (GBD), outdoor air pollution is 5th largest killer in India. Nearly 100,000 premature deaths happen in India due to air pollution. World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Delhi as the most polluted city in the world surpassing Beijing which puts residents of Delhi at a high risk of respiratory diseases and lung cancer. The air that school children in Delhi breathe is 4 times more toxic than the required safety limit. Similarly, breathing the air in Mumbai for just one day is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes. Approximately 30 million people in India including children suffer from Asthma. 
9. More mobiles than toilets: The world's second most populous country has surprisingly more mobiles than toilets. A report by Water Aid shows that approximately 774,222,300 people in India alone out of 2.3 billion people of the world, do not have access to a safe and private toilet. This means that more than 60% of India's population does not have access to sanitation and it invites diarrhoea and other diseases due to the lack of sanitation in children. On the other hand, there are 1,017,968,757 mobile connections in India which means 80% of the population has mobile connections.
   
   
   
   
10. Banned alcohol consumption: Alcohol consumption is banned in 5 Indian states namely Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur and Lakshadweep (Union Territory). Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Mizoram and Tamil Nadu had previously imposed the ban but were forced to withdraw the ban. Drinking age also varies in different states from 18 years to 25 years. 30% of Indian population consumes alcohol on regular basis where 11% of them are moderate to heavy drinkers. An average rural Indian consumes more alcohol than an urban Indian. Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Daman & Diu, Sikkim and Puducherry are among the highest consumers of alcohol and spirits in the country.

If you know some more facts about India, please share.
Writing for In^dispire topic116.