Principal Government Officials

President--Pratibha Patil
Vice President--Mohammed Hamid Ansari
Prime Minister--Dr. Manmohan Singh
Home Minister--Shivraj Patil
Minister of External Affairs--Pranab Mukherjee
Ambassador to the U.S.--Ronen Sen
Ambassador to the UN--Nirupam Sen

SPORTS IN INDIA

India's national sport is FIELDHOCKEY and cricket is the most popular sport in India. In some states, particularly those in the northeast and the states of West Bengal, Goa, and Kerala , football (soccer) is also a popular sport. In recent times, tennis also gained popularity . Chess , commonly held to have originated India, is also gaining popularity with the rise in the number of Indian grandmasters . Traditional sports include kabaddi,khokho , and gilli-danda, which are played nationwide. India is also home to the ancient Martial arts , Kalarippayattu and Varma kalai .

Etymology

The name India is derived from Indus , which is derived from the Old Persian word Hindu, from Sanskrit Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River . The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi , the people of the Indus. The Constitution of India and common usage in various Indian languages also recognise Bharat as an official name of equal status ,Hindustan which is the Persian word for “Land of the Hindus” and historically referred to northern india, is also occasionally used as a synonym for all of India.