Country Trading Profiles India - General information

Political outline | Living conditions | Useful resources | Communications

Political outline

Executive Power

President is the chief of the state and is elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament and the legislatures of the provinces for a five-year term.

Prime Minister is the head of the government and is chosen by parliamentary members of the majority party following legislative elections, to serve a term of five years. The President, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, appoints the Cabinet.

Legislative Power

The legislature is bicameral. The Parliament consists of: Council of States and the People's Assembly. People of India enjoy considerable political rights.

Main political parties

India has a multi-party system with predominance of small regional parties.

The major political parties in the country are:

- Indian National Congress: a major political party involved in India's independence movement
- Bharatiya Janta Party: pro-Hindu, nationalist ideology,
- Communist Party of India: Marxism-Leninism,
- Bahujan Samajwadi Party: draws support from backward classes & religious minorities.

Current political leaders

President: Mrs. Pratiba Patil (since July 2007) - non-partisan
Prime Minister: Manmohan SINGH (since May 2004, reelected in May 2009) – INC, heading a coalition government with CPI(M) & other parties.

Next election dates

Presidential: July 2012

Living conditions

Health and safety

Health precautions

No obligatory vaccinations.Vaccinations against Poliomyelitis, Meningococcal meningitis, Rabies, Cholera are recommended.
Risk of malaria exists. Other diseases like Dengue fever are present . H5N1 avian influenza has been identified among birds in this country.
Water used for drinking, brushing teeth or making ice should have first been boiled or otherwise sterilized. Milk should be boiled incase unpasteurised or otherwise also

International hospitals

International hospitals are not allowed to operate directly in India, but some of the private hospitals have tied up with international hospitals for technology & services transfer. Some of the hospitals of international standard operating in India are:
Apollo Hospitals;
Wockhardt Hospitals.

For more details, visit:
Mediescapes.com;
Incredible India.

For further information on sanitary conditions

The World Health Organization web pages devoted to India
The American government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

For further information on safety conditions

The Current Travel Warnings given by the American State Department
Travel Report on India by Canadian Foreign Office

Contact your Embassy

Embassy of Greece in India
EP-32, Dr S Radhakrishnan Marg
Chanakyapuri, New Delhi - 110 021
Phone: 91-11-26880700
Fax: 91-11-26888010
gremb.del@mfa.gr http://www.greeceinindia.com/

Emergency numbers

Police	100
Fire	101
Ambulance	102
Railway Enquiry	131
Telephone assistance in English or Hindi or Regional Language	197

Time difference and climate

Time and time difference: It is %T:%M %A in New Delhi (GMT+5:30)
Summer time period: None

Map of the time zone

Type of climate

India has broadly three seasons: warm, wet and cool. Heat begins to rise in the plains of the North in February and becomes unbearable in April - May. The monsoon appear towards the end of May in the South, then heads to the North, then covers the whole country in the first week of July till the end of October. There are even some cold nights in December - January. The extreme South remains warm all year long.

Autumn and Winter are undoubtedly the best times to visit India.

For further information

Average annual temperatures and rainfall

Useful resources

To find an accommodation: Hotels in India

India Hotels Youth Hostels Association India Tourism Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India
India Tourism
To find an apartment
To find a job: The Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGET)
Naurkri.com (a web-based private job site in India)
MonsterIndia.com (a web-based private job site in India)
JobsAhead.com (a web-based private job site in India)
Careerjet (an employment search engine for India)

Communications

Telephone codes: To make a call from India to Greece: dial 00 (or +) 30
To make a call to in India from Greece: dial 00 (or +) +91
Mobile telephone standards: Both CDMA and GSM
Internet suffix: .in

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