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'Gurgaon' (Hindi: गुड़गांव) is a city in the northern Indian state of Haryana, and has a population of about 249,000 according to the 2001 national census [1]. Gurgaon is one of Delhi's four major satellite cities and is therefore considered to be a part of the National Capital Region, although it is not situated in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

Contents

History

Economy

Geography

Demographics

Transportation

Culture

Education

Popular spots

Hotels

Shopping Malls

Residential properties

Educational institutes

Business schools

International schools

High Schools

Preschools

Engineering & Architecture Institutes

District Administration

Famous People From Gurgaon

References

External links

History

The origins of the city's name are steeped in Hindu mythology. Legend has it that Gurgaon is the ancestral village of Guru Dronacharya, the teacher of the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Indian epic, Mahabharata. In the ancient times, the name Gurgaon was originally said to be "Guru-Gram". In the original Sanskrit language, Guru means "teacher", which in this case refers to (Guru Dronacharya) and Gram means a (village). The village was gifted by the Pandavas and Kauravas to their Guru (Dronacharya), and was therefore known as ''Guru - Gram'', (Village of the Guru). The sanskriticised "gram" was over a period of time rounded off to a colloquial "gaon" and hence the name to Gurgaon..
In 1861, Gurgaon was transferred from North-Western Provinces to Punjab. Before Partition of India in 1947, this area had a significant Urdu speaking Muslim population. Most of them migrated to Pakistan afterwards.

Economy

Gurgaon is a massive economic engine for Haryana and over 50% of Haryana's income tax comes from Gurgaon and Faridabad. [2]
Over the last 10 years, the economy of Gurgaon boomed with a number of multi-national companies setting up shop here.

Gurgaon is best known as one of India's most prominent outsourcing and offshoring hubs, though the distribution of companies seems heavily skewed towards the non-IT services. India's outsourcing industry was born in Gurgaon in 1997 when GE Capital International Services (GECIS) was set up as the India-based business process services operations of GE Capital. Later in 2005, GECIS became an independent company - Genpact[3], which is now headquartered in Gurgaon. A plethora of BPO and KPO firms such as Genpact, Evalueserve, Dell, Accenture, Hewitt Associates,Copal Partners and Convergys dot the cityscape. A few IT and pharmaceutical firms also exist in the city. Several auto-manufacturing facilities also exist, though they do not dominate the city's economy in the manner they did a decade ago.
The outsourcing boom has led to a rapid growth in employment prospects and local wages, leading to a mushrooming of shopping malls, swank restaurants and entertainment facilities. Demand for such lifestyle options is driven by the demographic shift to a younger, more cosmopolitan, more affluent and better educated population.
Today, Gurgaon has head-office of Ciena Corporation, Alcatel, Niksun, IBM, Bain & Company. Most of them are IT companies. Gurgaon is also the headquarters of two biggest automobile manufacturers in India: Hero Honda and Maruti.

Geography

Gurgaon is located at ^[1]. It has an average elevation of 220 metres (721 feet).
The present Gurgaon district comprising nine blocks Tauru, Nuh, Pataudi, Nagina, Punhana, F.P.Jhirka, Sohna, Gurgaon & Farrukhnagar was created on 15 August,1979. It is the southern-most district of Haryana. On its north, it is bounded by the district of Rohtak and the Union Territory of Delhi.Faridabad district lies to its east. On its south, the district shares boundaries with the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. To its west lies the district of Rewari and the State of Rajasthan.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census^[2], Gurgaon had a population of 173,542. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Gurgaon has an average literacy rate of 77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 81%, and female literacy is 73%. In Gurgaon, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Transportation

The city requires an effective traffic planner to help develop economic growth.
Gurgaon's roads are its Achilles' heel. While the road layout in the city is well-planned, there are constant complaints about their upkeep and quality of maintenance. Drives to improve the condition of non-arterial roads continue to be infrequent and roads tend to disintegrate almost as soon as they are 'repaired'.
Besides roads, the main problem of the city is its virtually non-existent intra-city public transport. There are a handful of local buses plying a few routes. The only other form of public transport is shared auto rickshaws, which are generally overcrowded. As on date, there is no metered auto rickshaw or taxi on individual hire in the town. The cycle rickshaws and "private" taxis charge extortionate rates.
The Main Bus Depot of the city is the oldest and most used. It connects not just to nearby Delhi but all neighbouring towns. The buses to Delhi are the most frequent and have a choice of routes between AIIMS (via Mehrauli) and Dhaula Kuan. It also connects to Rohtak (2h15"), Jammu (12h), Faridabad (45min") to name a few. The bus service has remarkably improved after the construction of Golden Quadrilateral — a four lane highway passing through the city.
Gurgaon has its railway station located at the extreme corner of the city. The rails connect to both Rewari on one side and Delhi Cantt on other. Daily commuters using the trains either come using two wheelers and buy a monthly parking ticket or use the shared auto rickshaws that do trips between the station and the main bus depot. Car parking space is extremely limited at the station. Gurgaon residents mostly depend on railway stations in Delhi or Faridabad (on Delhi-Mumbai/Chennai track) for long-distance travel.
Plans to extend the Delhi Metro to Gurgaon have now been formally approved by both Delhi and Haryana governments, both having reached a cost sharing arrangement. The work have already started in isolated pockets along the route. Hence, Delhi Metro to Gurgaon can now be expected by year 2010. The metro underground work has started at Sikandarpur, Sushant Lok, DLF in Gurgaon. The Delhi Metro is expected to reach Rajiv Chowk very soon.
An eight lane toll expressway between Gurgaon and New Delhi, is now fully operational and provide s non-stop connectivity to the International Airport and Dhaula Kuan in Delhi over a distance of 28 kilometers (18 miles), and includes 7 flyovers and 5 underpasses along the stretch.
Gurgaon is a city trying hard to shake off its small-town past and embrace modernity and a globalized economy. In the process of building a world-class city, it has become imperative to address the infrastructure issues that plague it. The sustainability of Gurgaon's growth depends on it.

Culture

Thousands of professionals have recently made their home in Gurgaon, living in apartments in newly constructed colonies and condominiums with world-class facilities. The mushrooming shopping malls of Gurgaon, like the DLF City Centre, DLF Grand Mall, DLF Mega Mall, Sahara Mall, MGF Metropolitan Mall, MGF Mega City, DLF Star Mall, are also indicative of the recognition by retailers of the far-reaching aspirations, and deep pockets, of the residents of the city. By 2010, the state government also hopes to complete a world class Golden Triangle City Centre (GTCC) in Sector 29 with as many as four skyscrapers higher than Taipei 101. Some experts are worried about the project because Gurgaon lies in an earthquake prone area.[4] The fast growing population, with increasing purchasing power, has created a huge demand for housing, resulting in escalating property prices in recent years.
Quality of life in the privately managed residential estates in Gurgaon remains relatively good due to high standards of security, private parking, common area maintenance and sanitation being the norm. The city still faces problems with interruptions of electricity and water supply.

Education

The city is home to a number of reputed educational institutions - MDI, ITM (Institute Of Technology and Management), Indian Institute of Law,IILM Institute for Higher Education, The State Bank training Academy, The Fertiliser Development Institute, Potash Research Institute, The Ansal Institute Of Higher Education,
Gurgaon Institute Of Dental Sciences, Saluja CAD Consultancy, [5] Civil Lines, Pragati Polytechnic, Dronacharya College Of Engineering, Apeejay College Of Engineering, Institute for International management and Technology (IIMT)which is in collaboration with Oxford Brookes University, UK.
Gurgaon is also home to some of the very best residential and day schools like - Ryan International School, The Banyan Tree : IB World School, Delhi Public School, Blue Bells Model School,Colonel's Central Academy, Our Lady of Fatima Convent High School, DAV Public School, Amity International School, Shalom Hills International School, The Heritage School[6], Scottish High International School, Tagore International School, Suncity World School, The Sriram School, Shikshantar School
etc.

Popular spots

Below is a list of various 5-star hotels and shopping malls in Gurgaon:

Hotels

★ The Galaxy Hotel by Clarion 5
★

★ Todays Crown Plaza 5
★

★ Hilton Towers 5
★

★ Trident Hilton 5
★

★ The Bristol 5
★

★ The Park Plaza 4
★

★ Fortune Select Global 4
★

★ Lemon Tree Hotel, Udyog Vihar 3
★

★ Lemon Tree Hotel, Sector 29 3
★
The Vatika Group has started the construction of "The Westin" of Starwood Hotels. Also the Crowne Plaza Hotels has joined hand with Todays Group for the Development of Hotel in Sector 29

Shopping Malls

★ Praveen Plaza

★ DLF City Centre

★ DLF Grand Mall

★ DLF Mega Mall

★ DLF Star Mall

★ Galaxy Mall

★ MGF Mega City Mall

★ MGF Metropolitan Mall

★ Sahara Mall

★ The Plaza

★ Gold Souk

★ OMAXE Plaza

★ Nandal mega mall

★ See also: List of shopping malls in India
Gurgaon is considered the unofficial 'Mall Capital' of India.

Residential properties

''some of these are under construction''

★ Garden Estate

★ Devinder Vihar

★ Maple Heights

★ Belvedere Park

★ Palam Vihar

★ Raheja Atlantis (Sector 31-32a)

★ Gurgaon One

★ Ansal's Valley View Estate

★ AWHO, Sujjan Vihar

★ Vipul Orchid Greens

★ Orchid Petals

★ Essel Towers

★ IFFCO Nagar

★ OMAXE Nile

★ Park View 2

★ Orchid Belmonte

★ Parvsnath Greenville

★ Eldeco Mansionz

★ Central Park

★ Vatika City

★ Wembley Estate

★ Malibu Towne

★ Sahara Grace

★ Heritage City

★ PalmGroove Heights

★ Mayfield Gardens

★ Uppals Southend

★ ARDEE city

★ See also: List of leading shopping streets and districts by city

Educational institutes

Business schools

★ Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon. Constantly ranked as one of the Top 10 B-Schools in India by Outlook CFore B-School Ranking.

★ ICFAI Business School, Ranked among one of the top 20 business schools of the country by Outlook CFore B-School Ranking

★ IILM Institute for Higher Education

★ Ansal Institute of Technology

★ Institute of Technology and Management (ITM) , Gurgaon.

International schools

★ 'G.D Goenka World School- on Sohna Road.[7]'

★ Ryan International School in sector 40 .

★ Pathways World School is in nearby Aravali Hills.

★ Shalom Hills International School - neighboring DLF Golf Course (
★ Montessori/PlaySchool onwards)

★ Amity International School in Sector - 46

★ Amity International School in Sector - 43

★ Excelsior American School - Block C 2 Sushant Lok I(www.excelsioreducation.org)

High Schools

★ The Shri Ram School, Aravali

★ The Shri Ram School, DLF Phase 3

★ Blue Bells Model School

★ D.A.V. Public School,Sector-14, Gurgaon

★ Our Lady Of Fatima Sec Sch Gurgaon

★ Delhi Public School , Sector 45 , Gurgaon

★ Delhi Public School , Sushant Lok, Gurgaon

★ Colonel's Central Academy

★ Summer Fields School, 'A' Block DLF City Gurgaon

Preschools

★ shemrock preschools

★ St. Jude's Nursery School, Old DLF, Guragon 122001

★ CHIMES Playschool cum Daycare, Sector 56, Gurgaon

Engineering & Architecture Institutes

★ Saluja CAD Consultancy, 2, Civil Lines Enclave, Civil Lines, Gurgaon [8]

★ Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Sector-55, Gurgaon

★ Institute of Technology and Management (ITM) , Gurgaon.

★ Dronocharya College of Engineering (DCE) , Gurgaon.

District Administration

★ The Deputy Commissioner, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service, is the overall in-charge of the General Administration in the district. He is assisted by a number of officers belonging to Haryana Civil Service and other Haryana state services.

★ Till recently, the Superintendent of Police, an officer belonging to the Indian Police Service, used to be responsible for maintaining Law & Order and related issues in the district. He was assisted by the officers of the Haryana Police Service and other Haryana Police officials. Now, since June, 2007 the Police System has been converted into Commissionerate system of policing at par with other metropolitan cities in India e.g. [Delhi], [Mumbai], [Pune], etc. for better administration of [law] and order.

★ The Deputy Conservator of Forests, an officer belonging to the Indian Forest Service, is responsible for the management of the Forests, Environment and Wild-Life in the district. He is assisted by the officers of the Haryana Forest Service and other Haryana Forest officials and Haryana Wild-Life officials.

★ Sectoral development is looked after by the district head/officer of each development department such as [PWD], Health, Education, Agriculture, Animal husbandry, etc. These officers are from various [Haryana] state services.

Famous People From Gurgaon

★ Politician : Vasant Sathe

★ Poet : Kedar Nath Sharma

★ Cricketer: Nawab Pataudi, Yuvraj Singh

★ Cartoonist : Shekhar Gurera

★ Sharmila Tagore (actress)

★ First Crorepati Agent of [LIC OF INDIA] Sheel Wanti Saluja

References

1. Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Gurgaon
2.

External links

★ Jobs online by Saluja CAD Consultancy [9] catering to BPO, Automobiles, Engineering and Commercial establishments

★ 'Creative Teens' Club' - -''A Student Online Community covering All schools of Gurgaon. Started by a group of few DAV Public School Students''

★ All about Gurgaon

★