1.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
2.
Politics of India
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India follows the dual polity system, i. e. a double government which consists of the central authority at the center and states at the periphery. The Indian constitution provides for an independent Judiciary which is headed by the Supreme Court, the governments, are formed through elections held every five years, by parties that claim a majority of members in their respective lower houses. The 1990s saw the end of single party domination and rise of coalition governments, in recent decades, Indian politics has become a dynastic affair. Possible reasons for this could be the absence of party organizations, independent civil society associations that support for the parties. Compared to other countries, India has a large number of political parties. It has been estimated that over 200 parties were formed after India became independent in 1947, the two main parties in India are the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress, Indian National Congress dominates Indian Politics. On the left-right political spectrum, the Indian National Congress is the typical welfare heavy, centre-left party, whereas the BJP is a fiscally conservative, there are many types of political parties in India - National Party and Regional/State party. Every political party must bear a symbol and must be registered with the Election Commission of India, symbols are used in Indian political system as an identity of political parties and that illiterate people can also vote by recognizing symbols of party. For a National party, it must be the presence in the Lok Sabha and for a State party. In any election, a party can set up a candidate only from amongst its own members. A party, that loses its recognition, shall not lose its symbol immediately, recognition should be given to a party only on the basis of its own performance in elections and not because it is a splinter group of some other recognized party. OR it wins at least two percent seats in the House of the People, and these members are elected from at least three different States. OR it wins at least three percent of the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State, or at least three seats in the Assembly, whichever is more. At present there are 5 national parties and many state parties. India has a history of alliances and breakdown of alliances, however, there are three alliances on a national level in India, competing with each other for the position of Government. The coalition government went on to complete the five years term. In the 2014 General Elections NDA once again returned to power for the second time, BJP itself won 282 seats thereby electing Narendra Modi as the head of the government. United Progressive Alliance - Centre-Left coalition led by Indian National Congress, the alliance even after losing some of its members, was reelected in 2009 General Elections with Manmohan Singh as head of the government
3.
Constitution of India
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The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It is the longest written constitution of any country in the world. The nation is governed by it, B. R. Ambedkar is regarded as its chief architect. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949, with its adoption, the Union of India became the modern and contemporary Republic of India replacing the Government of India Act,1935 as the countrys fundamental governing document. To ensure constitutional autochthony, the framers of the repealed the prior Acts of the British Parliament via Article 395 of the constitution. India celebrates its coming into force on 26 January each year and it declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic, assuring its citizens of justice, equality, and liberty, and endeavours to promote fraternity among them. The major portion of the Indian subcontinent was under British rule from 1857 to 1947, when the Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950, it repealed the Indian Independence Act. India ceased to be a dominion of the British Crown and became a democratic republic. The date of 26 January was chosen to commemorate the Purna Swaraj declaration of independence of 1930. Articles 5,6,7,8,9,60,324,366,367,379,380,388,391,392,393 and 394 of the Constitution came into force on 26 November 1949 and it is drawn from many sources. Keeping in mind the needs and conditions of India its framers borrowed different features freely from previous legislation viz and it was drafted by the Constituent Assembly, which was elected by elected members of the provincial assemblies. The 389 member Constituent Assembly took almost three years to complete its task of drafting the Constitution for independent India, during which. Of these,114 days were spent on the consideration of the draft Constitution, on 29 August 1947, the Constituent Assembly set up a Drafting Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar to prepare a draft Constitution for India, while deliberating upon the draft Constitution, the assembly moved, discussed and disposed of as many as 2,473 amendments out of a total of 7,635 tabled. Ambedkar, Sanjay Phakey, Jawaharlal Nehru, C, there were more than 30 members of the scheduled classes. Frank Anthony represented the Anglo-Indian community, and the Parsis were represented by H. P. Modi, the Chairman of the Minorities Committee was Harendra Coomar Mookerjee, a distinguished Christian who represented all Christians other than Anglo-Indians. Ari Bahadur Gurung represented the Gorkha Community, prominent jurists like Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, Benegal Narsing Rau and K. M. Munshi, Ganesh Mavlankar were also members of the Assembly. Sarojini Naidu, Hansa Mehta, Durgabai Deshmukh, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, the first temporary 2-day president of the Constituent Assembly was Dr Sachchidananda Sinha
4.
Law of India
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Law of India refers to the system of law in modern India. India maintains a common law system inherited from the colonial era. During the drafting of the Indian Constitution, Indian laws also adhere to the United Nations guidelines on human rights law, certain international trade laws, such as those on intellectual property, are also enforced in India. Indian personal law is complex, with each religion adhering to its own specific laws. In most states, registering of marriages and divorces is not compulsory, separate laws govern Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and followers of other religions. The exception to rule is in the state of Goa, where a uniform civil code is in place, in which all religions have a common law regarding marriages, divorces. As of January 2017, there were about 1,248 laws, ancient India represented a distinct tradition of law, and had a historically independent school of legal theory and practice. The Arthashastra, dating from 400 BC and the Manusmriti, from 100 AD, were influential treatises in India, manus central philosophy was tolerance and pluralism, and was cited across Southeast Asia. Early in this period, which culminated in the creation of the Gupta Empire, relations with ancient Greece, the appearance of similar fundamental institutions of international law in various parts of the world show that they are inherent in international society, irrespective of culture and tradition. With the advent of the British Raj, there was a break in tradition, as a result, the present judicial system of the country derives largely from the British system and has few, if any, connections to Indian legal institutions of the pre-British era. The Constitution of India, which came into effect on 26 January 1950 is the lengthiest written constitution in the world and it provides details of the administration of both the Union and the States, and codifies the relations between the Federal Government and the State Governments. Also incorporated into the text are a chapter on the rights of citizens. The constitution prescribes a federal structure of government, with a defined separation of legislative and executive powers between the Federation and the States. Each State Government has the freedom to draft its own laws on subjects classified as state subjects, laws passed by the Parliament of India and other pre-existing central laws on subjects classified as central subjects are binding on all citizens. The Indian Penal Code formulated by the British during the British Raj in 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure,1973 governs the procedural aspects of the criminal law. Jury trials were abolished by the government in 1960 on the grounds they would be susceptible to media and this decision was based on an 8-1 acquittal of Kawas Nanavati in K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra, which was overturned by higher courts, in February 2011, the Supreme Court of India ruled that criminal defendants have a constitutional right to counsel. Capital punishment in India is legal, the last execution was conducted on July 30,2015, when the mastermind of 1993 Bombay serial blast, the terrorist Yakub Memon, was hanged in Nagpur
5.
Amendment of the Constitution of India
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Amending the Constitution of India is the process of making changes to the nations fundamental law or supreme law. The procedure of amendment in the constitution is laid down in Part XX of the Constitution of India and this procedure ensures the sanctity of the Constitution of India and keeps a check on arbitrary power of the Parliament of India. They also never wanted to have a British-style system where Parliament is supreme, the Constitution of India vests constituent power upon the Parliament subject to the special procedure laid down therein. During the discussion in the Constituent Assembly on this aspect, some members were in favour of adopting an easier mode of amending procedure for the five to ten years. There should be a certain flexibility, if you make anything rigid and permanent, you stop a nation’s growth, the growth of a living, vital, organic people. Therefore, it has to be flexible and it is right that House elected so - under this Constitution of course it will have the right to do anything - should have an easy opportunity to make such changes as it wants to. But in any event, we should not make a Constitution, such as other great countries have. Today especially, when the world is in turmoil and we are passing through a very swift period of transition, therefore, while we make a Constitution which is sound and as basic as we can, it should also be flexible. Brajeshwar Prasad also favoured a flexible Constitution so as to make it survive the test of time and he was of the opinion that rigidity tends to check progressive legislation or gradual innovation. Kamath favoured ensuring procedural safeguards to avoid the possibility of hasty amendment to the Constitution, the Constitution of India provides for a distinctive amending process when compared to the Constitutions of other nations. It can be described as flexible and partly rigid. The Constitution provides for a variety in the amending process, an amendment of the Constitution can be initiated only by the introduction of a Bill in either House of Parliament. The Bill must then be passed in each House by a majority of the membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present. There is no provision for a joint sitting in case of disagreement between the two Houses, the Bill, passed by the required majority, is then presented to the President who shall give his assent to the Bill. If the amendment seeks to make any change in any of the mentioned in the proviso to article 368. Although, there is no prescribed time limit for ratification, it must be completed before the amending Bill is presented to the President for his assent, every constitutional amendment is formulated as a statute. The first amendment is called the Constitution Act, the second, the Constitution Act, each usually has the long title An Act further to amend the Constitution of India. The original constitution provided for three categories of amendments
6.
Basic structure doctrine
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The basic structure doctrine is an Indian judicial principle that the Constitution of India has certain basic features that cannot be altered or destroyed through amendments by the parliament. Key among these features, are the fundamental rights granted to individuals by the constitution. The basic structure doctrine applies only to constitutional amendments, the basic structure doctrine does not apply to ordinary Acts of Parliament, which must itself be in conformity with the Constitution. The basic features principle was first expounded in 1964, by Justice J. R. Mudholkar in his dissent, in 1967, the Supreme Court reversed its earlier decisions in Golaknath v. State of Punjab. It held that Fundamental Rights included in Part III of the Constitution are given a position and are beyond the reach of Parliament. It also declared any amendment that takes away or abridges a Fundamental Right conferred by Part III as unconstitutional, by 1973, the basic structure doctrine triumphed in Justice Hans Raj Khannas judgment in the landmark decision of Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala. Previously, the Supreme Court had held that the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution was unfettered, although Kesavananda was decided by a narrow margin of 7-6, the basic structure doctrine has since gained widespread acceptance and legitimacy due to subsequent cases and judgments. Primary among these was the imposition of a state of emergency by Indira Gandhi in 1975, when the Kesavananda case was decided, the underlying apprehension of the majority bench that elected representatives could not be trusted to act responsibly was perceived as unprecedented. However, the passage of the 39th Amendment by the Indian National Congress majority in central and state legislatures, in Indira Nehru Gandhi v. Raj Narain and Minerva Mills v. The Supreme Courts position on constitutional amendments laid out in its judgements is that Parliament can amend the Constitution but cannot destroy its basic structure. The basic features principle was first expounded in 1964, by Justice J. R. Mudholkar in his dissent, the basic features of the Constitution have not been explicitly defined by the Judiciary. At least,20 features have been described as basic or essential by the Courts in numerous cases and it would be unreasonable to hold that the word Law in article 13 takes in Constitution Amendment Acts passed under article 368. In both cases, the power to amend the rights had been upheld on the basis of Article 368, in 1967, the Supreme Court reversed its earlier decisions in Golaknath v. State of Punjab. A bench of judges of the Supreme Court deliberated as to whether any part of the Fundamental Rights provisions of the constitution could be revoked or limited by amendment of the constitution. The Supreme Court delivered its ruling, by a majority of 6-5 on 27 February 1967, the Court also ruled that Fundamental Rights included in Part III of the Constitution are given a transcendental position under the Constitution and are kept beyond the reach of Parliament. The Court also held that the scheme of the Constitution and the nature of the freedoms it granted incapacitated Parliament from modifying, restricting or impairing Fundamental Freedoms in Part III, Parliament passed the 24th Amendment in 1971 to abrogate the Supreme Court ruling in the Golaknath case. It amended the Constitution to provide expressly that Parliament has the power to any part of the Constitution including the provisions relating to Fundamental Rights. This was done by amending articles 13 and 368 to exclude amendments made under article 368, Chief Justice Koka Subba Rao writing for the majority held that, A law to amend the constitution is a law for the purposes of Article 13
7.
Fundamental rights in India
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Fundamental Rights is a charter of rights contained in Part III of Constitution of India. It guarantees civil liberties such that all Indians can lead their lives in peace, violation of these rights result in punishments as prescribed in the Indian Penal Code or other special laws, subject to discretion of the judiciary. The Fundamental Rights are defined as basic human freedoms that every Indian citizen has the right to enjoy for a proper and these rights universally apply to all citizens, irrespective of race, place of birth, religion, caste or gender. Aliens are also considered in matters like equality before law and they are enforceable by the courts, subject to certain restrictions. The Rights have their origins in many sources, including Englands Bill of Rights, Right to equality is provided from Article 14 to Article 18 of Indian constitution. Right to freedom is provided from Article 19 to 22 of constitution, Right against exploitation, Which prohibits all forms of forced labour, child labour and traffic of human beings. It is provided under Articles 23 and 24 of Indian constitution, Article 25 to 28 enumerates the right to freedom of religion. Article 29 and Article 30 of Indian constitution provides for cultural and educational rights, Right to constitutional remedies, Which is present for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. It is provided under Article 32 of Indian constitution, Fundamental rights for Indians have also been aimed at overturning the inequalities of pre-independence social practices. Specifically, they have also used to abolish untouchability and thus prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex. They also forbid trafficking of human beings and forced labour and they also protect cultural and educational rights of ethnic and religious minorities by allowing them to preserve their languages and also establish and administer their own education institutions. They are covered in Part III of Indian constitution, the public opposition to this act eventually led to mass campaigns of non-violent civil disobedience throughout the country demanding guaranteed civil freedoms, and limitations on government power. Indians, who were seeking independence and their own government, were influenced by the independence of Ireland. Task of developing a constitution for the nation was undertaken by the Constituent Assembly of India, the Constituent Assembly first met on December 9,1946 under the presidency of Dr. Sachidanand later Dr. Rajendra Prasad was made its President. While members of Congress composed of a majority, Congress leaders appointed persons from diverse political backgrounds to responsibilities of developing the constitution. The fundamental rights were included in the First Draft Constitution, the Second Draft Constitution and final Third Draft Constitution, the fundamental rights were included in the constitution because they were considered essential for the development of the personality of every individual and to preserve human dignity. The writers of the constitution regarded democracy of no avail if civil liberties, like freedom of speech and religion were not recognised and protected by the State. According to them, democracy is, in essence, a government by opinion and therefore, for this purpose, the constitution guaranteed to all the citizens of India the freedom of speech and expression and various other freedoms in the form of the fundamental rights
8.
Human rights in India
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The Constitution of India provides for Fundamental rights, which include freedom of religion. Clauses also provide for freedom of speech, as well as separation of executive and judiciary and freedom of movement within the country, the country also has an independent judiciary and well as bodies to look into issues of human rights. The 2016 report of Human Rights Watch accepts the above-mentioned faculties but goes to state that India has serious human rights concerns, Civil society groups face harassment and government critics face intimidation and lawsuits. Free speech has come under attack both from the state and by interest groups, the Asian Centre for Human Rights estimated that from 2002 to 2008, over four people per day died while in police custody, with hundreds of those deaths being due to police use of torture. According to a written by the Institute of Correctional Administration in Punjab. Instances of torture, such as through a lack of sanitation, space, India is home to the largest number of sexually abused children in the world. About 53% of children have been subjected to form of sexual abuse. In 2012, India introduced the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act to deal with cases of sexual abuse. However, it took two years to record the first cases under the law and there are gaps in its implementation with the conviction rate under the act being only 2. 4%. It is argued that the prevalence is driven by reluctance to expose relatives, as a result, more than 50% of adults who were abused surveyed wanted the matter to stay within the family and only 17% wanted harsh punishments for offenders. India has the highest number of living in conditions of slavery,18.3 million. Most of those in India living in slavery are in bonded labour, debt bondage can be passed on from generation to generation, with children required to pay off their parents debt. India has the largest number of child labourers under the age of 14 in the world with an estimated 12.6 million children engaged in hazardous occupations, Human trafficking is a $8 million illegal business in India. Around 10,000 Nepali women are brought to India annually for commercial sexual exploitation, each year 20, 000–25,000 women and children are trafficked from Bangladesh. Communal conflicts between groups have been prevalent in India since around the time of its independence from British Rule. Among the oldest incidences of violence in India was the Moplah rebellion. Communal riots took place during the partition of India between Hindus/Sikhs and Muslims where large numbers of people were killed in large-scale violence. The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots was a period during which Sikhs were massacred by members of the secular-centrist Congress Party of India
9.
Uniform civil code
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Uniform civil code is the proposal to replace the personal laws based on the scriptures and customs of each major religious community in India with a common set governing every citizen. Article 44 of the Directive Principles sets its implementation as duty of the State, apart from being an important issue regarding secularism in India, it became one of the most controversial topics in contemporary politics during the Shah Bano case in 1985. The Bano case made it a public issue focused on identity politics—by means of attacking specific religious minorities versus protecting its cultural identity. In contemporary politics, the Bharatiya Janta Party and the Left support it while the Congress Party, Personal laws are distinguished from public law and cover marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption and maintenance. Goa has a family law, thus being the only Indian state to have a uniform civil code. The Special Marriage Act,1954 permits any citizen to have a marriage outside the realm of any specific religious personal law. Personal laws were first framed during the British Raj, mainly for Hindu, the British feared opposition from community leaders and refrained from further interfering within this domestic sphere. The demand for a civil code was first put forward by women activists in the beginning of the twentieth century, with the objective of womens rights, equality. Till Independence in 1947, a few law reforms were passed to improve the condition of women, in 1956, the Indian Parliament passed Hindu Code Bill amidst significant opposition. The debate for a civil code dates back to the colonial period in India. Prior to the British Raj, under the East India Company, they tried to reform local social and religious customs. Lord William Bentinck, the Governor-General of India, tried to suppress sati, the death of a widow on her husbands funeral pyre. This was later extended outside Bengal to all English territories in India, according to their understanding of religious divisions in India, the British separated this sphere which would be governed by religious scriptures and customs of the various communities. Thus, the British let the Indian public have the benefit of self-government in their own domestic matters with the Queens 1859 Proclamation promising absolute non-interference in religious matters, the personal laws involved inheritance, succession, marriage and religious ceremonies. The public sphere was governed by the British and Anglo-Indian law in terms of crime, land relations, laws of contract, the Shudras, for instance, allowed widow remarriage—completely contrary to the scriptural Hindu law. The difficulty in investigating each specific practice of any community, case-by-case, towards the end of the nineteenth century, favouring local opinion, the recognition of individual customs and traditions increased. The Muslim Personal law, was not strictly enforced as compared to the Hindu law and it had no uniformity in its application at lower courts and was severely restricted because of bureaucratic procedures. This led to the law, which was often more discriminatory against women
10.
Law enforcement in India
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Law enforcement in India is performed by numerous law enforcement agencies. At the federal level, the agencies are part of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Larger cities also operate metropolitan police forces, under respective state governments, all senior police officers in the state police forces, as well as those in the federal agencies, are members of the Indian Police Service. The central agencies are controlled by the central Government of India, the majority of federal law enforcement agencies are controlled by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The head of each of the law enforcement agencies is always an Indian Police Service. The constitution also permits the government to participate in police operations. Central police forces can assist the police force, but only if so requested by the state governments. In practice, the government has largely observed these limits. During the Emergency of 1975-77, the constitution was amended to permit the government to dispatch. This action proved unpopular, and the use of the Central Police Forces was controversial, after the Emergency was lifted, the constitution was amended in December 1978 to make deployment of central Police forces once again dependent on the consent of the state government. In addition to managing the Indian Police Service, the Ministry of Home Affairs maintains several agencies and organisations dealing with police, Police in the union territories comes directly under MHA. The Central Bureau of Investigation investigates crimes that might involve public officials or have ramifications for several states, the Indian Border Security Force is responsible for policing Indias land borders during peacetime and preventing trans-border crimes. It is a police force operating under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. It performs a variety of duties ranging from VIP security to election duties, the BSFs policing capabilities were used in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 against the Pakistani Armed Forces in areas which were least threatened. During wartime or upon orders from the central government BSF operates under the command of the Indian Army, BSF troops took part in the Battle of Longewala in 1971 in this capacity. After the 1971 war which led to the creation of Bangladesh, although originally charged with guarding Indias external boundaries, the BSF has more recently been given the task of counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations. BSF operates a Tear-Smoke Unit situated at BSF Academy, Takenpur, Gwalior, BSF operates Dog Squads and runs the National Dog Training and Research Centre. BSF is one of several Indian police forces which has its own Air and it provides helicopter, dog and other support services to the State Police
11.
Government of India
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It is located in New Delhi, the capital of India. There is a bicameral Parliament with the Lok Sabha as a lower house, the judicial branch systematically contains an apex Supreme Court,24 high courts, and several district courts, all inferior to the Supreme Court. Similar to the government, individual state governments each consist of executive, legislative. The legal system as applicable to the federal and individual state governments is based on the English Common, the full name of the country is the Republic of India. No other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name appears on legal banknotes, in treaties. The Union Government, Central Government or Government of India are often used in an official and unofficial capacity to refer to the Government of India, because the seat of government is in New Delhi, New Delhi is commonly used as a metonym for the Central Government. Legislative branch in India is exercised by the Parliament and a legislature consisting of the Rajya Sabha. The latter is considered the house or the House of the people. The Parliament does not have control and sovereignty, as its laws are subject to judicial review by the Supreme Court of India. However, it does exercise some control over the executive branch, the members of the cabinet, including the prime minister and the Council of Ministers, are either chosen from parliament or elected there to within six months of assuming office. The cabinet as a whole is responsible to the Lok Sabha, the Lok Sabha is a temporary house and can only be dissolved when the party in power loses the support of the majority of the house. Whereas the Rajya Sabha is a permanent house which can never be dissolved though the members of the Rajya Sabha who are elected for a six-year term, the Executive Branch of government is the one that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers. The executive power is vested mainly in the President of India, the President has all constitutional powers and exercises them directly or through officers subordinate to him as per the aforesaid Article 53. The President is to act in accordance with aid and advice tendered by the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers remains in power during the pleasure of the President. However, in practice, the Council of Ministers must retain the support of the Lok Sabha, if a President were to dismiss the Council of Ministers on his or her own initiative, it might trigger a constitutional crisis. Thus, in practice, the Council of Ministers cannot be dismissed as long as it holds the support of a majority in the Lok Sabha, the President is responsible for making a wide variety of appointments. His/Her work is to facilitate smooth transaction of business in Ministries/ Departments of the Government, the President is de jure the Commander in Chief of the Indian Armed Forces
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President of India
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The President of the Republic of India is the Head of State of India and the Commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. The oath of the President is taken in the presence of the Chief Justice of India, the President resides in an estate known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan situated in Raisina Hill in New Delhi. The presidential retreats are The Retreat in Chharabra, Shimla and Rashtrapati Nilayam in Hyderabad, the 13th and current President is Pranab Mukherjee, who was elected on 22 July 2012, and sworn in on 25 July 2012. He is also the first Bengali to be elected as President, India achieved independence from the British on 15 August 1947, initially as a Dominion within the Commonwealth of Nations with George VI as king, represented in the country by a governor-general. Still, following this, the Constituent Assembly of India, under the leadership of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the Constitution of India was eventually enacted on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950, making India a republic. The offices of monarch and governor-general were replaced by the new office of President of India, the constitution of the Republic of India gave the President the responsibility and authority to defend and protect the constitution of India and its rule of law. Invariably, any action taken by the executive or legislature entities of the constitution shall become law only after Presidents assent, the president shall not accept any actions of the executive or legislature which are unconstitutional. The president is the foremost, most empowered and prompt defender of the constitution, the primary duty of the President is to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and the law of India as made part of his oath. The President is the head of all independent constitutional entities. All his actions, recommendations and supervisory powers over the executive and legislative entities of India shall be used in accordance to uphold the constitution, there is no bar on the actions of the President to contest in the court of law. Legislative power is vested by the Parliament of India of which the president is the head. The President of the Republic summons both the Houses of the Parliament and prorogues them and he can dissolve the Lok Sabha. The President inaugurates Parliament by addressing it after the general elections, the Presidential address on these occasions is generally meant to outline the new policies of the government. All bills passed by the Parliament can become laws only after receiving the assent of the President per Article 111, after a bill is presented to him, the President shall declare either that he assents to the Bill, or that he withholds his assent from it. As a third option, he can return a bill to Parliament, if it is not a money bill, when, after reconsideration, the bill is passed accordingly and presented to the President, with or without amendments, the President cannot withhold his assent from it. Article 143 gave power to the president to consult the Supreme Court about the validity of any issue. These are in the nature of interim or temporary legislation and their continuance is subject to parliamentary approval, ordinances remain valid for no more than six weeks from the date the Parliament is convened unless approved by it earlier. Re-promulgation of ordinances after failing to get approval within stipulated time of the houses of parliament is unconstitutional act by the President
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Head of state
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A head of state is the public persona that officially represents the national unity and legitimacy of a sovereign state. In some countries, the head of state is a figurehead with limited or no executive power, while in others. Former French president Charles de Gaulle, while developing the current Constitution of France, some academic writers discuss states and governments in terms of models. An independent nation state normally has a head of state, the non-executive model, in which the head of state has either none or very limited executive powers, and mainly has a ceremonial and symbolic role. In parliamentary systems the head of state may be merely the chief executive officer, heading the executive branch of the state. This accountability and legitimacy requires that someone be chosen who has a majority support in the legislature and it also gives the legislature the right to vote down the head of government and their cabinet, forcing it either to resign or seek a parliamentary dissolution. In parliamentary constitutional monarchies, the legitimacy of the head of state typically derives from the tacit approval of the people via the elected representatives. In reality, numerous variants exist to the position of a head of state within a parliamentary system, usually, the king had the power of declaring war without previous consent of the parliament. For example, under the 1848 constitution of the Kingdom of Italy, the Statuto Albertino—the parliamentary approval to the government appointed by the king—was customary, so, Italy had a de facto parliamentarian system, but a de jure presidential system. These officials are excluded completely from the executive, they do not possess even theoretical executive powers or any role, even formal, hence their states governments are not referred to by the traditional parliamentary model head of state styles of His/Her Majestys Government or His/Her Excellencys Government. Within this general category, variants in terms of powers and functions may exist, the constitution explicitly vests all executive power in the Cabinet, who is chaired by the prime minister and responsible to the Diet. The emperor is defined in the constitution as the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people and he is a ceremonial figurehead with no independent discretionary powers related to the governance of Japan. Today, the Speaker of the Riksdag appoints the prime minister, Cabinet members are appointed and dismissed at the sole discretion of the prime minister. In contrast, the contact the President of Ireland has with the Irish government is through a formal briefing session given by the taoiseach to the president. However, he or she has no access to documentation and all access to ministers goes through the Department of the Taoiseach. The president does, however, hold limited reserve powers, such as referring a bill to the court to test its constitutionality. The most extreme non-executive republican Head of State is the President of Israel, semi-presidential systems combine features of presidential and parliamentary systems, notably a requirement that the government be answerable to both the president and the legislature. The constitution of the Fifth French Republic provides for a minister who is chosen by the president
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Vice-President of India
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The Vice-President of India is the second-highest constitutional office in India, after the President. Article 63 of Indian Constitution states that there shall be a Vice-President of India, the Vice-President acts as President in the absence of the President due to death, resignation, impeachment, or other situations. The Vice-President of India is also ex officio Chairperson of the Rajya Sabha, when a bill is introduced in Rajya Sabha, vice-president decides whether it is a financial bill or not. If he is of the opinion, a bill introduced in the Rajya Sabha is a money bill, Article 66 of the Indian Constitution states the manner of election of the Vice-President. The current Vice-President is Mohammad Hamid Ansari, since 11 August 2007 and this difference is because the Vice-President is to act as the ex officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The Vice-President is elected indirectly, by a college consisting of members of both houses of the Parliament. The nomination of a candidate for election to the office of the Vice-President must be subscribed by at least 20 electors as proposers and 20 electors as seconders, every candidate has to make a security deposit of Rs.15,000 in the Reserve Bank of India. The Election Commission of India, which is an autonomous body. The election is to be no later than 60 days of the expiry of the term of office of the outgoing Vice-President. A Returning Officer is appointed for the election, usually the Secretary-General of either House of the Parliament, the Returning Officer issues a public notice of the intended election, inviting nomination of candidates. The nomination papers are scrutinized by the Returning Officer, and the names of all candidates are added to the ballot. The election is proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote by secret ballot, voters stack-rank the candidates, assigning 1 to their first preference,2 to their second preference, and so on. The number of votes required by a candidate to secure the election is calculated by dividing the number of votes by two, and adding one to the quotient by disregarding any remainder. If no candidate obtains the required number of votes, the candidate with the least number of first-preference votes is eliminated. The process is repeated until a candidate obtains the requisite number of votes, nominated members can also participate in the election. After the election has been held and the votes counted, the Returning Officer declares the result of the election to the electoral college, the Vice-President may resign his office by submitting his resignation to the President. The resignation becomes effective from the day it is accepted, all disputes arising in connection with the election of the Vice-President are petitioned to the Supreme Court of India, which inquires into the matter. The petition is heard by a bench of the Supreme Court
15.
Prime Minister of India
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The Prime Minister of India is the Head of Government and leader of the executive branch of the Government of India. The Prime Minister is also the adviser to the President of India. He or she can be a member of any of the two houses of Parliament, but has to be the leader of the party, having a majority in the Lok Sabha. The Prime Minister is the member of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The Prime Minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, allocates posts to members within the Government, is the presiding member and chairman of the cabinet. The federal or union cabinet headed by the Prime Minister is appointed by the President of India to assist the latter in the administration of the affairs of the executive, Union cabinet is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha as per Article 75. The Prime Minister shall always enjoy the confidence of Lok Sabha, India follows a parliamentary system in which the prime minister is the presiding, actual head of the government and chief of the executive branch. In such systems, the head of state or the head of states official representative usually holds a ceremonial position. The Prime Minister shall become a member of parliament within six months of beginning his/her tenure, he/She is expected to work with other central ministers to ensure the passage of bills by the Parliament. There shall be a Council of Ministers with the minister at the head to aid and advise the president who shall, in the exercise of his functions. The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister. Like most parliamentary democracies, a Presidents duties are mostly ceremonial as long as the constitution and the rule of law is obeyed by the Union Cabinet, the Prime Minister of India is the head of union government and has the responsibility for executive power. The prime minister leads the functioning and exercise of authority of the government of India. President of India invites a person who is commanding support of majority members of Lok Sabha to form government at the federal level, in practice the prime minister nominates the members of their Council of Ministers to the president. They also work upon to decide a core group of Ministers as in-charge of the important functions, some specific ministries/department are not allocated to anyone in the cabinet but the prime minister himself. Per Article 78 of the constitution, the communication between the union cabinet and the president are through the prime minister. Other wise constitution recognises the prime minister as a member of the cabinet only outside the sphere of union cabinet. Be a member of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha
16.
Head of government
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The term head of government is often differentiated from the term head of state, as they may be separate positions, individuals, and/or roles depending on the country. In parliamentary systems, including constitutional monarchies, the head of government is the de facto leader of the government. For example, in the United Kingdom, the prime minister advises the Queen on the appointment of the cabinet, advice she is required to accept. On the other hand, the Queens long service as the head of state enables her to provide the prime minister with information and insight into many matters to better run the government. However, because the United Kingdom is a monarchy, the Prime Minister uses his or her own discretion regarding whether or not to follow the Queens advice. The Queen also is entitled to appoint a new Prime Minister, in presidential republics or in absolute monarchies, the head of state is also usually the head of government. The relationship between that leader and the government, however, can vary greatly, ranging from separation of powers to autocracy, in semi-presidential systems, the head of government may answer to both the head of state and the legislature, with the specifics provided by each countrys constitution. A modern example is the present French government, which originated as the French Fifth Republic in 1958, in France, the president, the head of state, appoints the prime minister, who is the head of government. In some cases, the head of state may represent one political party, in this case, known as cohabitation, the prime minister, along with the cabinet, controls domestic policy, with the presidents influence is largely restricted to foreign affairs. In directorial systems, the executive responsibilities of the head of government are spread among a group of people, a prominent example is the Swiss Federal Council, where each member of the council heads a department and also votes on proposals relating to all departments. A common title for many heads of government is prime minister, various constitutions use different titles, and even the same title can have various multiple meanings, depending on the constitutional order and political system of the state in question. In addition to prime minister, titles used for the democratic model, some of these titles relate to governments below the national level. Have been used by various Empires, Kingdoms and Princely States of India as a title for the Prime Minister, maltese, In Malta, the head of government is Prim Ministru. In this case, the prime minister serves at the pleasure of the monarch, some such titles are diwan, mahamantri, pradhan, wasir or vizier. However, just because the head of state is the de jure dominant position does not mean that he/she will not always be the de facto political leader, in some cases, the head of state is a figurehead whilst the head of the government leads the ruling party. In some cases a head of government may even pass on the title in hereditary fashion, the ability to vote down legislative proposals of the government. Control over or ability to vote down fiscal measures and the budget, all of these requirements directly impact the Head of governments role. Many parliamentary systems require ministers to serve in parliament, while others ban ministers from sitting in parliament, heads of government are typically removed from power in a parliamentary system by Resignation, following, Defeat in a general election
17.
Union Council of Ministers of India
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The Union Council of Ministers or federal cabinet exercises executive authority in the Republic of India. It consists of ministers, called Cabinet Ministers, junior ministers, called Ministers of State. It is led by the Prime Minister, a smaller executive body, called the Union Cabinet is the decision-making body in India. Only the Prime Minister and ministers of the rank of Cabinet Minister are members of Union Cabinet per Article 352, per Article 75, the Council of Ministers is responsible collectively to the lower house of the Indian Parliament, called the Lok Sabha. When a bill introduced by a minister in the Lok sabha is not approved by it, entire council of ministers is responsible, the council of ministers upon losing confidence of Lok Sabha shall resign to facilitate new government formation. A minister shall not take any decision with out being considered by the council of ministers per Article 78, all union cabinet members shall submit in writing to the President to propose proclamation of emergency by the president per Article 352. According to the Constitution of India, the number of ministers in the Council of Ministers must not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the House of the People. Ministers must be members of parliament, any minister who is not a member of either the lower or upper houses of parliament for six consecutive months is automatically stripped off his or her ministerial post. Upon self resignation Upon dismissal by the President for ministers unconstitutional acts per Article 75, upon direction from the Judiciary for committing violation of law. Upon ceasing eligibility to be a member of Parliament and it is nowhere stated in the constitution, a minister can be removed by the Prime Minister at his will. Every state in India is governed by its council of ministers with rules, there is no concept of cabinet rank minister in the council of ministers. As a collective, each successive Council of Ministers is referred to as a cabinet, the current cabinet is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took office on 26 May 2014. Politics of India National Democratic Alliance Council of Ministers of Narendra Modi Template, Modi ministry Union Council of Ministers at the National Portal of India
18.
Cabinet Secretary of India
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The Cabinet Secretary is a post and a rank in the Government of India. Cabinet Secretary is the top most executive official and senior-most civil servant in India, the Cabinet Secretary is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. Though there is no fixed tenure, the tenure of the Cabinet Secretary has been less than 3 years. His or her tenure however, can be extended. He doesnt belong to any particular ministry, during British colonial rule in India, the agency that carried out governmental business was called the Governor-General-in Council. In 1946, the Council was renamed the Cabinet Secretariat, after Independence in 1947, the functions of the Secretariat underwent major changes. A series of committees on economic, defence and intelligence matters were constituted under the Cabinet Secretariat, most of the departments created after Independence functioned under the Cabinet Secretariat, and were later on shifted to the respective ministries. The subjects allotted to this Secretariat are, firstly, secretarial assistance to Cabinet and Cabinet Committees, and secondly, through this mechanism new policy initiatives are also promoted. Management of major crisis situations in the country and coordinating activities of the various Ministries in such a situation is one of the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat. The Cabinet Secretariat has 3 wings, Civil, Military and Intelligence, the Civil wing is the main wing and provides aid, advice and assistance to the Union Cabinet. The Military wing is represented by Major General who is designated as Joint Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, the Intelligence wing deals with matters pertaining to the Joint Intelligence Committee of the Union Cabinet. The chief of Research and Analysis Wing R&AW also officially first reports to the Cabinet Secretary, the Cabinet Secretary is arguably Indias most powerful bureaucrat and right hand of Prime Minister of India
19.
Finance Secretary
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The Finance Secretary is the Permanent Secretary-level civil servant, who plays a leadership role in the bureaucracy of the Finance Ministry, Government of India. Ashok Lavasa is current Finance Secretary who replaced Ratan Watal, each of the departments is headed by a secretary. Each of the five secretaries directly reports to the finance minister, the Finance Secretary is a tag given to one of the five secretaries. It only denotes a first among equals, the other four secretaries do not report to the FS, their files do not flow through him. By default, the FS tends to be the senior most of the five, sometimes, none of the five is labelled FS. Most finance secretaries have been members of the Indian Administrative Service or IAS, the last finance secretary of India was Mr. Rajiv Mehrishi, an IAS officer of the Rajasthan Cadre. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Duvvuri Subba Rao, Bimal Jalan, Manmohan Singh, K. G. Ambegaokar, S Venkitaraman, edmund James Sinkinson BCS LLD born Kendal, UK,16 July 1849, was Financial Secretary to the Government of India. He died at Darjeeling 1 Jan 1892, One Rs note is signed by Finance Secretary of India One Rs note is signed by Finance Secretary of India and it does not have the word i promise to pay the bearer. Also, in accordance with the RBI Act 1934, RBI can not mint coins, what are the implications of One Rupee note to be classified as a coin. One Rupee Note is an asset, just like other coins, so I promise to pay the bearer. is not written on the note. While RBI Notes are a liability, One Rupee Note and One Rupee coins are legal tenders for unlimited amounts. One rupee defines the unit of the currency and it is the base of the currency system. A1000 rupees RBI note says I promise to pay the bearer the sum on one thousand rupees, hence RBI notes which are a liability promises to pay you an asset. This asset is defined by One rupee So, the Government of India has the power to mint/print 1 Rupee coin/note which are an asset, RBI notes get the value from the asset known as Rupee
20.
Home Secretary (India)
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The Ministry of Home Affairs or Home Ministry is a ministry of the Government of India. An interior ministry, it is responsible for the maintenance of internal security. The Home Ministry is headed by Union Minister of Home Affairs, shri Rajnath Singh is the present Minister of Home Affairs. The Home Ministry is also the cadre controlling Authority for the Indian Police Service, DANIPS, the Home Secretary is the senior civil servant at the MHA. The current Home Secretary is Rajiv Mehrishi, Director of Intelligence Bureau Mr. Rajiv Jain Director of CBI-Mr. The Ministry of Home Affairs has the following constituent Departments, Department of Border Management Department of Border Management, dealing with management of borders, Department of Internal Security Department of Internal Security, dealing with police, law and order and rehabilitation. Department of States Dealing with Centre-State relations, Inter-State relations, Union Territories and these are organisational divisions of the Ministry itself, without the splitting into specialised departments. Disaster Management Division Responsible for response, relief and preparedness for natural calamities, the Division is also responsible for legislation, policy, capacity building, prevention, mitigation and long term rehabilitation. Finance Division The Division is responsible for formulating, operating and controlling the budget of the Ministry under the Integrated Finance Scheme, foreigners Division The Division deals with all matters relating to visa, immigration, citizenship, overseas citizenship of India, acceptance of foreign contribution and hospitality. It also handles work relating to Enemy Properties and residual work relating to Evacuee Properties, Human Rights Division The Division deals with matters relating to the Protection of Human Rights Act and also matters relating to national integration and communal harmony and Ayodhya. It is also responsible for implementation of the Prime Ministers Package for J&K, judicial Division Legislative aspects of the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and also the Commission of Inquiry Act. Left Wing Extremism Division Control of left wing extremism in India, Police Division-II This Division deals with the policy, personnel, operational and financial matters relating to all the Central Armed Police Forces including BSF Air Wing. It also deals with the matters relating to welfare of the serving and retired CAPF personnel, Union Territories Division The Division deals with all legislative and constitutional matters relating to Union territories, including National Capital Territory of Delhi. Besides, it is responsible for over-seeing the crime and law and order situation in UTs
21.
Civil Services of India
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The Civil Services refer to the civil services, the permanent executive branch of the Republic of India. The civil service system is the backbone of the machinery of the country. In the parliamentary democracy of India, the responsibility for running the administration rests with the elected representatives of the people which are the ministers. But the handful of ministers cannot be expected to deal personally with the problems of modern administration. Thus the ministers lay down the policy and it is for the servants to carry out this policy. The executive decisions are implemented by the Indian civil servants, the members of civil service serve at the pleasure of the President of India and Article 311 of the constitution protects them from politically motivated or vindictive action. Civil servants are employees of the Government of India, however, Civil servants in a personal capacity are paid from the Civil List. Senior civil servants may be called to account by Parliament, as of year 2010, there are total 6.4 million government employees in India, and less than 50,000 civil servants to administer them. The civil service system in India is rank-based and does not follow the tenets of the civil services. In 2015, the Government of India approved the formation of Indian Skill Development Service, further, in 2016, the Government of India approved the formation of Indian Enterprise Development Service. Lord Warren Hastings laid the foundations of civil service and Charles Cornwallis reformed, modernised and rationalised it, hence, Charles Cornwallis is known as the Father of Civil Service in India. He introduced Covenanted Civil Services and Uncovenanted Civil Services, the present civil services of India is mainly based on the pattern of the former Indian Civil Service of British India. The civil services were divided into two categories - covenanted and uncovenanted, the covenanted civil service consisted of only Europeans occupying the higher posts in the government. The uncovenanted civil service was introduced to facilitate the entry of Indians at the lower rung of the administration. With the passing of the Government of India Act 1919, the Imperial Services headed by the Secretary of State for India, were split into two – All India Services and Central Services. The All India and class 1 Central Services were designated as Central Superior Services as early as 1924, the present modern civil service was formed after the partition of India in 1947. It was Sardar Patels vision that the Civil Service should strengthen cohesion, the values of integrity, impartiality and merit remain the guiding principles of Indian civil services. Since the early 20th century, Indian civil servants have been colloquially called babus, while Indian bureaucracy is called babudom, as in the rule of babus, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions located in New Delhi is unofficially the Ministry of Civil Services in India
22.
Indian Administrative Service
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The Indian Administrative Service is the All India administrative civil service. IAS officers hold key and strategic positions in the Union Government, States governments, along with the Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service, the IAS is one of the three All India Services — its cadre can be employed by both the Union Government and the individual States. On attaining the upper levels of Super Time Scale to Apex Scale, they can go on to head whole departments and subsequently entire Ministries of Governments of India, IAS officers represent Government of India at the international level in bilateral and multilateral negotiations. On deputations they work at Intergovernmental organisations like World Bank and United Nations or its Agencies, IAS officers at various levels of administration play vital roles in conducting free, fair and smooth elections in India under the direction of Election Commission of India and states. The erstwhile Imperial Civil Service was the highest civil service of the British Empire in British India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947, Civil servants were divided into two categories - covenanted and uncovenanted. The covenanted civil service consisted of only white British civil servants occupying the higher posts in the government, the uncovenanted civil service was solely introduced to facilitate the entry of Indians at the lower rung of the administration. With the passing of the Government of India Act 1919, the Imperial Services headed by the Secretary of State for India, were split into two – All India Services and Central Services. At the time of the partition of India and the departure of the British in 1947, the part which went to India was named the Indian Administrative Service, while the part that went to Pakistan was named the Civil Service of Pakistan. IAS officers are recruited from Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission and they are also promoted from State Civil Services and selected from non-state civil service. After getting selected, candidates undergo training at LBSNAA, Mussoorie for IAS, being an All India Service, officers of the IAS are allotted to State cadres at the beginning of their service. They continue to work in that cadre or are deputed to Government of India, there is one cadre for each Indian state, except for three joint cadres, Assam–Meghalaya, Manipur–Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh–Goa–Mizoram–Union Territories. The insider-outsider ratio is maintained as 1,2, with one-third of the recruits as insiders from the same state. The rest are posted as outsiders according to the roster in states other than their home states, the next year the roster starts from H, for either Haryana or Himachal Pradesh. This highly intricate system, in vogue since the mid-1980s, had ensured that officers from different states are placed all over India, changes of state cadre is permitted on grounds of marriage to an All India Service officer of another state cadre or under other exceptional circumstances. The officer may go to their home state cadre on deputation for a limited period, the centralising effect of cadre system was considered extremely important by the systems framers, but has received increasing criticism over the years. There are also concerns that such reform, the IAS will be unable to move from a command and control strategy to a more interactive. A civil servant is responsible for the law and order and general administration in the area under his work, most IAS officers start their careers in the state administration at the sub-divisional level as a sub divisional magistrate. They are entrusted with the law and order situation of the city along with general administration and they proceed to various posts in the State and Central Governments, and also local-self Governments, and Public Sector Undertakings
23.
Indian Forest Service
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Indian Forest Service was created in 1966 under the All India Services Act 1951. Previously, the Imperial Forestry Service existed during the British Raj from 1865 to 1935, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, under the Government of India, is the cadre controlling authority of Indian Forest Service. India was one of the first countries in the world to introduce scientific forest management, in 1864, the British Raj established the Imperial Forest Department. In 1864 Dr Dietrich Brandis, a German forest officer, was appointed Inspector General of Forests, the Imperial Forestry Service was organised subordinate to the Imperial Forest Department in 1867 when five candidates were selected to undergo training in France & Germany. This continued up to 1885 except for a break on account of war between France and Russia. Officers appointed from 1867 to 1885 were trained in Germany and France, from 1905 to 1926, the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and University of Edinburgh had undertaken the task of training Imperial Forestry Service officers. The Government of India Act 1935, which transferred forestry to Provisional list, with the retirement of IFS officers, the demand for trained foresters cropped up and thus Indian Forest College was born in 1938. The Superior Forest Service officers, recruited from different states, were trained in the Indian Forest College thus retaining the all India character of the service, the main mandate of the service was scientific management of the forests to exploit it on a sustained basis for primarily timber products. It was during this time large tracts of the forest were brought under state control through the process of reservation under the Indian Forest Act,1927. Since the subject of forestry was shifted to the concurrent list in the year 1977, the main thrust of managing forests for production of timber products as in the British period continued even after the reconstitution of IFS in 1966. The recommendations of National Commission on Agriculture in 1976 was a shift in forest management. It was for the first time that peoples perception was taken care of in addressing biomass needs, the concept of sustained yield was addressed in tandem with biomass needs of the people living in and around forest areas. Equal thrust was given to habitat management in protected area and conserving the biodiversity of the land, today there are over 2700 IFS officers serving in the country. The modern Indian Forest Service was established in 1966, after independence, the first Inspector General of Forests, Hari Singh, was instrumental in the development of the IFS. India has an area of 635,400 km2 designated as forests, indias forest policy was created in 1894 and revised in 1952 and again in 1988. Officers are recruited via a competitive examination conducted by the UPSC. Their services are placed under various State cadres and joint cadres, an IFS officer is largely independent of district administration and exercises administrative, judicial and financial powers in their own domain. All top positions in state forest department are held by IFS officers, positions like Divisional Forest Officer, Conservator of Forests and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests etc. are some examples
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Indian Police Service
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The Indian Police Service or IPS, is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India. It has replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India gained independence from Britain, the service is not a force itself but provides leaders and commanders to staff the state police and all-India Central Armed Police Forces. Its members are the officers of the police. The Bureau of Police Research and Development is responsible for research, in 1861, the British Government introduced the Indian Councils Act of 1861. The act created the foundation of a modern and professionalised police bureaucracy in India and it introduced, a new cadre of police, called Superior Police Services, later known as the Indian Imperial Police. The highest rank in the service was the Inspector General, in 1902-03, a Police Commission was established for the Police reforms under Sir Andrew Frazer and Lord Curzon. It recommended the appointment of Indians at officer level in the police, Indians could rise only to the ranks of Inspector of Police, the senior N. C. O. However they were not part of Indian Imperial Police, from 1920, Indian Imperial Police was open to Indians and the entrance examination for the service was conducted both in India and England. Prior to Independence, senior police officers belonging to the Imperial Police were appointed by the Secretary of State on the basis of a competitive examination. The first open civil service examination for admission to the service was held in England in June 1893 and it is not possible to pinpoint an exact date on which the Indian Police came formally into being. In this sense,1907 could be regarded as the starting point, in 1948, a year after India gained independence, the Imperial Police was replaced by IPS. In 1972, Kiran Bedi joined the IPS, becoming the first woman police officer, as per media reports in 2016, there is massive shortfall of IPS officers in India, which is nearly 19% to 22% of total strength. Historically, few officers have been awarded United Nations Medal and have participated in Indian Army United Nations peacekeeping missions, the Indian Police Service is not a force itself but a service providing leaders and commanders to staff the state police and all-India Central Armed Police Forces. Its members are the officers of the police. Leading and commanding the Indian Intelligence Agencies like Research and Analysis Wing, Intelligence Bureau, Central Bureau of Investigation, Indian Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Civil and Armed Police Forces in all the states and union territories. To interact and coordinate closely with the members of other All India Services and with the Indian Revenue Service, to lead and command the force with courage, uprightness, dedication and a strong sense of service to the people. Endeavor to inculcate in the forces under their command such values. IPS officers are recruited from Civil Services Examination and they are also promoted from State Police Services and DANIPS
25.
Legislature
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A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments, in the separation of model, they are often contrasted with the executive. Laws enacted by legislatures are known as legislation, legislatures observe and steer governing actions and usually have exclusive authority to amend the budget or budgets involved in the process. The members of a legislature are called legislators, each chamber of legislature consists of a number of legislators who use some form of parliamentary procedure to debate political issues and vote on proposed legislation. There must be a number of legislators present to carry out these activities. Some of the responsibilities of a legislature, such as giving first consideration to newly proposed legislation, are delegated to committees made up of small selections of the legislators. The members of a legislature usually represent different political parties, the members from each party generally meet as a caucus to organize their internal affairs, the internal organization of a legislature is also shaped by the informal norms that are shared by its members. Legislatures vary widely in the amount of power they wield, compared to other political players such as judiciaries, militaries. In 2009, political scientists M. Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig constructed a Parliamentary Powers Index in an attempt to quantify the different degrees of power among national legislatures, such a system renders the legislature more powerful. Legislatures will sometime delegate their legislative power to administrative or executive agencies, legislatures are made up of individual members, known as legislators, who vote on proposed laws. For example, a legislature that has 100 seats has 100 members, by extension, an electoral district that elects a single legislator can also be described as a seat, as, for, example, in the phrases safe seat and marginal seat. In parliamentary systems of government, the executive is responsible to the legislature which may remove it with a vote of no confidence, names for national legislatures include parliament, congress, diet and assembly. A legislature which operates as a unit is unicameral, one divided into two chambers is bicameral, and one divided into three chambers is tricameral. In bicameral legislatures, one chamber is considered the upper house. In federations, the upper house typically represents the component states. This is a case with the legislature of the European Union. Tricameral legislatures are rare, the Massachusetts Governors Council still exists, tetracameral legislatures no longer exist, but they were previously used in Scandinavia. Legislatures vary widely in their size, among national legislatures, Chinas National Peoples Congress is the largest with 2987 members, while Vatican Citys Pontifical Commission is the smallest with 7
26.
Parliament of India
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The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. The Parliament is composed of the President of India and the houses and it is bicameral with two houses, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. The President in his role as head of legislature has powers to summon. The president can exercise these powers only upon the advice of the Prime Minister and those elected or nominated to either house of Parliament are referred to as members of parliament. The Parliament meets at Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi, the Sansad Bhavan is located in New Delhi. It was designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, who were responsible for planning, the construction of buildings took six years and the opening ceremony was performed on 18 January 1927 by the then Governor-General of India, Irwin. The construction costs for the building were ₹8.3 million, the parliament is 560 feet in diameter and covers an area of 6 acres. The Central hall consists of the chambers of Lok sabha, Rajya Sabha, surrounding these three chambers is the four storied circular structure providing accommodations for members and houses Parliamentary committees, offices and the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. A new Parliament building may replace the existing complex, the new building is being considered on account of the stability concerns regarding the current complex. A committee to suggest alternatives to the current building has been set up by the Ex, the present building, an 85-year-old structure suffers from inadequacy of space to house members and their staff and is thought to suffer from structural issues. The building also needs to be protected because of its heritage tag, the Indian Parliament consists of two houses called the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha with the President of India acting as their head. The President of India, the Head of state is a component of Parliament, the President of India is elected by the members of Parliament of India and the state legislatures and serves for a term of five years. Lok Sabha or the house has 545 members. It has a term of five years, Rajya Sabha or the upper house is a permanent body not subject to dissolution. One third of the members every second year, and are replaced by newly elected members. Each member is elected for a term of six years and its members are indirectly elected by members of legislative bodies of the states. The Rajya Sabha can have a maximum of 250 members and it currently has a sanctioned strength of 245 members, of which 233 are elected from States and Union Territories and 12 are nominated by the President. The number of members from a state depends on its population, the minimum age for a person to become a member of Rajya Sabha is 30 years
27.
Rajya Sabha
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The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Membership of Rajya Sabha is limited by the Constitution to a maximum of 250 members, Members sit for staggered six-year terms, with one third of the members retiring every two years. The Rajya Sabha meets in continuous sessions, and unlike the Lok Sabha, however, the Rajya Sabha, like the Lok Sabha can be prorogued by the President. The Rajya Sabha has equal footing in all areas of legislation with Lok Sabha, except in the area of supply, in the case of conflicting legislation, a joint sitting of the two houses can be held. However, since the Lok Sabha has twice as many members as the Rajya Sabha, the Vice-President of India is the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, who presides over its sessions. The Deputy Chairman, who is elected from amongst the houses members, the Rajya Sabha held its first sitting on 13 May 1952. The salary and other benefits for a member of Rajya Sabha are same as for a member of Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha members are elected by state legislatures rather than directly through the electorate by single transferable vote method. Article 84 of the Constitution lays down the qualifications for membership of Parliament, must be elected by the Legislative Assembly of States and Union territories by means of Single transferable vote through Proportional representation. Must have their name present on the voters list, cannot be an insolvent, i. e. he/she should not be in debt that he/she is not capable of repaying in a current manner and should have the ability to meet his/her financial expenses. Should not hold any office of profit under the Government of India. Should not be of unsound mind, must possess such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament. In addition, twelve members are nominated by the President of India having special knowledge in areas like arts. However, they are not entitled to vote in Presidential elections as per Article 55 of the Constitution, the Constitution of India places some restrictions on Rajya Sabha which makes Lok Sabha more powerful in certain areas in comparison. Money bills, as defined in the Constitution of India Act 110, when Lok Sabha passes a money bill, and transmits it to Rajya Sabha, Rajya Sabha has only fourteen days to return the bill to Lok Sabha. If Rajya Sabha fails to return the bill in fourteen days, also, if Lok Sabha rejects any of the amendments proposed by Rajya Sabha, the bill is deemed to have been passed by both Houses of Parliament in the form Lok Sabha finally passes it. Hence, Rajya Sabha cannot stall, or amend, a bill without Lok Sabhas concurrence on the same. Article 108 provides for a joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament in certain cases, considering that the numerical strength of Lok Sabha is more than twice that of Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha tends to have a greater influence in a joint sitting of Parliament. A joint session is chaired by the Speaker of Lok Sabha, in Indian federal structure, Rajya Sabha is a representative of the States in the Union legislature
28.
Lok Sabha
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The Lok Sabha is the Lower house of Indias bicameral Parliament, with the Upper house being the Rajya Sabha. The house meets in the Lok Sabha Chambers of the Sansad Bhavan in New Delhi, under the current laws, the strength of Lok Sabha is 545, including the two seats reserved for members of the Anglo-Indian community. The total elective membership is distributed among the states in proportion to their population, a total of 131 seats are reserved for representatives of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The quorum for the House is 10% of the total membership, term of the House The Lok Sabha, unless sooner dissolved, continues to operate for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting and the expiration of the period of five years. An exercise to redraw Lok Sabha constituencies boundaries has been carried out by the Delimitation Commission based on the Indian census of 2001, the 16th Lok Sabha was elected in May 2014 and is the latest to date. The Lok Sabha has its own channel, Lok Sabha TV. A major portion of the Indian subcontinent was under British rule from 1858 to 1947, the Indian Councils Act 1861 provided for a Legislative Council consisting of the members of the Executive Council and non-official members. The Indian Councils Act 1892 established legislatures in each of the provinces of British India, although these Acts increased the representation of Indians in the government, their power still remained limited, and the electorate very small. The Indian Councils Act 1909 and the Government of India Act 1919 further expanded the participation of Indians in the administration, the Constituent Assembly was divided into two for the separate nations, with each new Assembly having sovereign powers transferred to it for the respective dominion. The Constitution of India was adopted on 26 November 1949 and came into effect on 26 January 1950, proclaiming India to be a sovereign, democratic republic. This contained the principles of the law of the land which would govern India in its new form. The Lok Sabha was duly constituted for the first time on 17 April 1952 after the first General Elections held from 25 October 1951 to 21 February 1952 and he / She should not be less than 25 years of age. He / She possesses such other qualifications as may be prescribed in that behalf by or under any law made by Parliament, a seat in the Lok Sabha will become vacant in the following circumstances, When the holder of the seat, by writing to the speaker, resigns. When the holder of the seat is absent from 60 consecutive days of proceedings of the House, when the holder of the seat is subject to any disqualifications mentioned in the Constitution or any law enacted by Parliament. A seat may also be vacated when the holder stands disqualified under the Anti-Defection Law, a member both of Parliament and of a House of the Legislature of a State. System of elections in Lok Sabha Members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the people of India, for the purpose of holding direct elections to Lok Sabha, each state is divided into territorial constituencies. This provision does not apply for states having a population of less than 6 million, note, The expression population here refers to the population ascertained at the preceding census of which relevant figure have been published. Lok Sabha has certain powers that make it more powerful than the Rajya Sabha, motions of no confidence against the government can be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha
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Speaker of the Lok Sabha
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The Speaker of the Lok Sabha is the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. Their role is similar to that of speakers elsewhere in countries that use the government. The speaker is elected in the very first meeting of the Lok Sabha following general elections, serving for a term of five years, they are chosen from amongst the members of the Lok Sabha, and is by convention a member of the ruling party or alliance. The current speaker is Sumitra Mahajan of the Bharatiya Janata Party and she is the second woman to hold the office, after her immediate predecessor Meira Kumar. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha conducts the business in house and they maintain discipline and decorum in the house and can punish a member for their unruly behaviour by suspending them. They also permit the moving of various kinds of motions and resolutions such as a motion of no confidence, motion of adjournment, motion of censure, the Speaker decides on the agenda to be taken up for discussion during the meeting. The date of election of speaker is fixed by the President, further, all comments and speeches made by members of the House are addressed to the speaker. The speaker also presides over the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, the counterpart of the Speaker in the Rajya Sabha is the Chairman, who is the Vice President of India. In the warrant of precedence, the speaker of Lok Sabha comes next only to The Deputy Prime Minister of India, Speaker has the sixth rank in the political executive of India. Speaker can be removed by the Lok Sabha by a resolution passed by a majority of all the members of the House per Articles 94 and 96. Speaker is also removed on getting disqualified for being Lok Sabha member under sections 7 &8 of Representation of the People Act,1951 and this would arise out of speakers wrong certification of a bill as money bill inconsistent with the definition given in Articles 110 of the constitution. The appointment has to be approved by the president, the first meeting after the election when the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are selected by members of the Parliament is held under the pro tem Speaker. In absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker acts as Speaker, the names, terms of office and Lok Sabhas were taken from, Former Speakers. The Office of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Office of the Lok Sabha Speaker
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Supreme Court of India
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The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal under the Constitution of India, the highest constitutional court, with the power of constitutional review. Consisting of the Chief Justice of India and 30 other judges, it has extensive powers in the form of original, appellate and advisory jurisdictions. As the final court of appeal of the country, it takes up appeals primarily against verdicts of the High Courts of various states of the Union and other courts and it safeguards fundamental rights of citizens and settles disputes between various governments in the country. As an advisory court, it matters which may specifically be referred to it under the Constitution by the President of India. It also may take cognisance of matters on its own, without anyone drawing its attention to them, the law declared by the Supreme Court becomes binding on all courts within India. These new High Courts had the distinction of being the highest Courts for all cases till the creation of Federal Court of India under the Government of India Act 1935. The Federal Court had jurisdiction to solve disputes between provinces and federal states and hear appeal against judgements of the High Courts, the Supreme Court of India came into being on 28 January 1950. It replaced both the Federal Court of India and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which were then at the apex of the Indian court system. Supreme Court initially had its seat at Chamber of Princes in the Parliament building where the previous Federal Court of India sat from 1937 to 1950, the first Chief Justice of India was Sir H J Kania. In 1958, the Supreme Court moved to its present premises, originally, Constitution of India envisaged a Supreme Court with a Chief Justice and seven Judges, leaving it to Parliament to increase this number. In formative years, the Supreme Court met from 10 to 12 in the morning, the Right Wing of the structure has the bar - room, the offices of the Attorney General of India and other law officers and the library of the court. The Left Wing has the offices of the court, in all there are 15 court rooms in the various wings of the building. The foundation stone of the courts building was laid on 29 October 1954 by Rajendra Prasad. The Court moved into the building in 1958, in 1979, two new wings - the East Wing and the West Wing - were added to the complex. On 20 February 1980, a bronze sculpture of 210 centimeter height was installed in lawn of the Supreme Court. On the book, a balance is shown, which represents dispensation of justice to all. The sculpture was made by the renowned artist Chintamoni Kar The design of the Courts seal is reproduced from the wheel that appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion capital of Asoka with 24 spokes, the inscription in Sanskrit yatodharmastato jayah means whence law, thence victory. It is also referred to - as the wheel of righteousness, encompassing truth, goodness, Supreme Court Rules,2013 entitle only those advocates who are registered with the supreme court, called Advocates-on-Record to appear, act and plead for a party in the court
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Chief Justice of India
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The Chief Justice of India is the head of the judiciary of India and the Supreme Court of India. The CJI also heads their administrative functions, as head of the supreme court, the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law. It has been a convention for decades now, to appoint the senior-most judge of the supreme court as the CJI. The present CJI is Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and is the 44th CJI since January 1950, the year the constitution came into effect and the supreme court came into being. He succeeded Justice T. S. Thakur on 4 January 2017 and will remain in office till 28 August 2017, article 124 of the Constitution of India provides for the manner of appointing judges to the Supreme Court. However, this convention has been breached on a few occasions, ray appointed as CJI, superseding three judges senior to him allegedly because he had favoured her government, and when Justice H. R. The Oath of Office is presided by the President, article 124 of Constitution of India lays down the procedure for removal of a Judge of Supreme Court which is applicable to Chief Justice as well. Once appointed, the Chief Justice remains in office until the age of 65 years, when President Zakir Hussain died in office, the Vice President V. V. Giri, acted as the President. Later, Mr. Giri resigned as the Vice President, the CJI, Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah then became the acting President of India. The senior-most judge of the Supreme Court became the acting CJI, accordingly, such provisions have been laid down in The Supreme Court Judges Act,1958. This remuneration was revised in 2006-2008, after the sixth central pay commissions recommendation, list of Chief Justices of India Official website of Supreme Court of India Photo Gallery of Former Chief Justices of India
32.
High Courts of India
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There are 24 High Courts at the state and union territory level of India which, together with the Supreme Court of India at the national level, comprise the countrys judicial system. Each High Court has jurisdiction over a state, a territory or a group of states. Below the High Courts is a hierarchy of subordinate courts such as the courts, family courts, criminal courts. High Courts are instituted as constitutional courts under Part VI, Chapter V, the High Courts are the principal civil courts of original jurisdiction in each state and union territory. High courts may also enjoy original jurisdiction in certain matters if so designated specifically in a state or federal law, however, the work of most High Courts primarily consists of appeals from lower courts and writ petitions in terms of Article 226 of the constitution. Writ jurisdiction is also original jurisdiction of High Court, the precise territorial jurisdiction of each High Court varies. The appeal order is the following, tehsil-kotwali-criminal/civil courts - district - high court - supreme court, each state is divided into judicial districts presided over by a District and Sessions Judge. He is known as a District Judge when he presides over a case. He is the highest judicial authority below a High Court judge, below him, there are courts of civil jurisdiction, known by different names in different states. Under Article 141 of the Constitution, all courts in India are bound by the judgments, judges in a High Court are appointed by the President of India in consultation with the Chief Justice of India and the governor of the state. High Courts are headed by a Chief Justice, the Chief Justices are ranked fourteenth and seventeenth in the Indian order of precedence. The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in the country, High Courts that handle a large number of cases of a particular region have permanent benches established there. Benches are also present in states which come under the jurisdiction of a court outside its territorial limits, smaller states with few cases may have circuit benches established. Circuit benches are temporary courts which hold proceedings for a few selected months in a year, thus cases built up during this interim period are judged when the circuit court is in session. A systematic implementation of E-courts In India is the way to speed up the process, reduce if not eliminate the ills of the judicial system - corruption, inefficiency. The Madras High Court in Chennai, Bombay High Court in Mumbai, Calcutta High Court in Kolkata, Judge Strength in High Courts Increased. Soon, High Courts in 3 Northeastern States, new Chief Justice of Delhi High Court to Assume Charge on Wednesday. Media related to High Courts in India at Wikimedia Commons
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District Courts of India
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They administer justice in India at a district level. Salary of civil Judge at Entry Level Civil Judge/Addl. Munsiff gets Rs. 135000/-per Month at Entry Level and it includes- Electricity Bill Phone Bill Car Fuel either Petrol/Diesel Car Maintenance Free Food for him and family Education Expenses of their children are paid by government itself automatically. Water tax Insurance Premium of their vehicle is paid by government, Civil Judge 【F/R】/ Munsiff Magistrate First stage get Rs. 148000/-. After completing 2 years of services. Civil Judge get Rs.174000 /-per Month, addl. Chief Judicial Magistrate gets Rs. 182000/- per month. The highest court in each district is that of the District and this is the principal court of original civil jurisdiction besides High Court of the State and which derives its jurisdiction in civil matters primarily from the code of civil procedure. The district court is also a court of Sessions when it exercises its jurisdiction on criminal matters under Code of Criminal procedure, the district court is presided over by one District Judge appointed by the state Government. In addition to the judge there may be number of Additional District Judges. The Additional District Judge and the court presided have equivalent jurisdiction as the District Judge, however, the district judge has supervisory control over Additional and Assistant District Judges, including decisions on allocation of work among them. The District and Sessions judge is referred to as district judge when he presides over civil matters. Being the highest judge at district level, the District Judge also enjoys the power to manage the funds allocated for the development of judiciary in the district. The district judge is also called Metropolitan session judge when he is presiding over a court in a city which is designated Metropolitan area by the state Government. Other courts subordinated to district court in the Metropolitan area are referred to with metropolitan prefixed to the usual designation. An area is designated an area by the concerned state Government if population of the area exceeds one million or more than that. The judges of courts are appointed by the Governor in consultation with the chief justice of the High Court of the concerned State. This is referred to as direct recruitment, the next level of ascendancy for a district judge who served sufficient number of years is the post of High court judge. High court Judges are usually appointed from a pool of advocates practicing at the Bar of the High court, a district judge or Additional judge may be removed from his office by the state Government in consultation with the High court. The District Court or Additional District court exercises jurisdiction both on original side and appellate side in civil and criminal matters arising in the District, the territorial and pecuniary jurisdiction in civil matters is usually set in concerned state enactments on the subject of civil courts. On the criminal side, jurisdiction is derived from the criminal procedure code
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Elections in India
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India has an asymmetric federal government, with elected officials at the federal, state and local levels. At the national level, the head of government, Prime Minister, is elected by members of the Lok Sabha, the elections are conducted by the Election Commission of India. The 2014 general election involved an electorate of 863,500,000 people, declared expenditure has trebled since 1989 to almost $300 million, using more than one million electronic voting machines. The size of the huge electorate mandates that elections be conducted in a number of phases and it involves a number of step-by-step processes from announcement of election dates to the announcement of results paving the way for the formation of the new government. The House of the People represents citizens of India, the 543 members are elected under the plurality electoral system. The Council of States has 250 members,238 members elected for a six-year term, the members are indirectly elected, this being achieved by the votes of legislators in the state and union territories. The elected members are chosen under the system of representation by means of the single transferable vote. The twelve nominated members are usually a mix of eminent artists, scientists, jurists, sportspersons, businessmen and journalists. Lok Sabha is composed of representatives of the chosen by direct election on the basis of the adult suffrage. In 1952 Lok Sabha Elections there were 1874 candidates, which rose to 13952 candidates in 1996, however, in 2009 Lok Sabha Elections only 8070 candidates contested. Historical share of seats and votes of major parties are ranked by the number of seats won. *,12 seats in Assam and 1 in Meghalaya did not vote, the party continued its dominance under the leadership of K Kamaraj and Lal Bahadur Shastri. The Congress party was split into two in the 1970s and Indira Gandhi led Congress to election victory, but, Indira Gandhi regained power soon after and her son Rajiv Gandhi led the party after her assassination. A coalition led by VP Singh swept to power in 1989 in the wake of allegations of corruption against then Prime Minister. But the coalition lost steam in 1990 necessitating new elections with the party again emerging victorious under the leadership of P V Narasimha Rao. This has been a consequence of strong regional parties which ride on the back of regional aspirations, there were multiple governments within a span of few years led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, I K Gujral and H D Deve Gowda. In 1999, National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power, for the next decade, congress led coalition United Progressive Alliance formed the government under Manmohan Singh. Narendra Modi, the BJPs Prime Ministerial candidate, is now serving his first term as the Prime Minister of India, the Election Commission of India is an autonomous, constitutionally established federal authority responsible for administering all the electoral processes in the Republic of India
35.
Election Commission of India
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The Election Commission of India is an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering election processes in India. The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, state legislatures, the Election Commission operates under the authority of Constitution per Article 324, and subsequently enacted Representation of the People Act. The Commission has the powers under the Constitution, to act in an appropriate manner when the enacted laws make insufficient provisions to deal with a situation in the conduct of an election. Originally in 1950, the commission had only a Chief Election Commissioner, two additional Commissioners were appointed to the commission for the first time on October 16,1989 but they had a very short tenure, ending on January 1,1990. The Election Commissioner Amendment Act,1989 made the Commission a multi-member body, the concept of a 3-member Commission has been in operation since then, with the decisions being made by a majority vote. Other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President of India on the recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner, a Chief Election Commissioner has never been impeached in India. In 2009, just before the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections, CEC N, the President opined that such a recommendation is not binding on the President, and hence rejected it. Subsequently, after Gopalaswamis retirement the next month, Chawla became the Chief Election Commissioner, one of the most important features of the democratic polity is elections at regular intervals. In every election, it issues a Model code of Conduct for political parties and candidates to elections in a free. The Commission issued the code for the first time in 1971 for the 5th Lok Sabha elections and it lays down guidelines for the conduct of political parties and candidates during an election period. It contains the rules of electoral morality. However, this lack of statutory backing does not prevent the Commission from enforcing it, a law regarding the registration process for political parties was enacted in 1989 and a number of parties got registered with the Commission. The registration helps avoid confusion ensures that the parties are brought under the purview of the commission. To curb the influence of money during elections, the Election Commission has made many suggestions. These limits have been revised over time, the Election Commission, by appointing observers from the Indian Revenue Service, keeps an eye on the individual account of election expenditure. The campaign period has also reduced by the Commission from 21 to 14 days for Lok Sabha. The Commission can issue an order for prohibition of publication and disseminating of results of opinion polls or exit polls to prevent influencing the voting trends in the electorate. In an attempt to decriminalise politics, the Election Commission has approached the Supreme Court to put a ban on convicted politicians from contesting elections. The Constitutional Act, passed in 1992 by the Narasimha Rao government, the Election Commission had tried to bring improvements in election procedures by the introduction of Electronic voting machines or EVMs
36.
Chief Election Commissioner of India
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The Chief Election Commissioner heads the Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national and state legislatures. Chief Election Commissioner of India is usually a member of the Indian Civil Service, India was probably one of the first countries in the World to go for a completely electronic ballot in the last elections. While the office has always been an important one in the machinery of the Indian political process, mr. Seshan is widely credited with undertaking a zealous effort to end corruption and manipulation in Indian elections. Though he made significant progress, several attempted to derail these efforts. In particular, the expansion of the Election Commission to include the two Election Commissioners was seen as a move to curtail the ability to act aggressively. The President of India appoints the Chief Election Commissioner, conventionally, senior-most Election Commissioner is appointed as CEC. He has tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years and he enjoys the same official status, salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India and High court. The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed only through impeachment by the Parliament, subsequently, M Karunanidhi, the head of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party and five times Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu supported the suggestion. Advani made this demand to remove any impression of bias or lack of transparency and fairness because, according to him, the following have held the post of the Chief Election Commissioner of India
37.
Election Commissioner of India
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Election Commissioner of India is a member of Election Commission of India, a body constitutionally empowered to conduct free and fair elections to the national and state legislatures. He is usually a member of the Indian Civil Service and mostly from the Indian Administrative Service, until 1989, the commission was a single member body, but later two additional Election Commissioners were added. Thus, the Election Commission currently consists of a Chief Election Commissioner, the decisions of the commission are taken by a majority vote. Nasim Zaidi is the current Chief Election Commissioner and other two Election Commissioners are Achal Kumar Jyoti and Om Prakash Rawat, after then Dr. Nasim Zaidi took over as 20th Chief Election Commissioner. The President of India based on a recommendation from the Government of India appoints the Election Commissioners and they have tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by Parliament in a similar to that of a judge of the Supreme Court. On the other hand, other Election Commissioners can be removed by the President on recommendation of the Chief Election Commissioner, the salary and other conditions of service of the Election Commissioner are determined by the Parliament of India through Election Commission Act,1991
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Indian general election, 2009
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India held general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in five phases between 16 April 2009 and 13 May 2009. With an electorate of 714 million, it was the largest democratic election in the till the Indian General Elections 2014 held from 7 April 2014. By constitutional requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha must be held five years. The previous election to the 14th Lok Sabha was conducted in May 2004, Elections are organised by the Election Commission of India and are normally held in multiple phases to better handle the large electoral base and its security concerns. The 2009 elections were held in five phases, in February 2009, Rs.11.20 billion was budgeted for election expenses by the Indian Parliament. A total of 8070 candidates contested for 543 Lok Sabha seats, the average election turnout over all 5 phases was around 59. 7%. The results of the election were announced three days of phase five, on 16 May 2009, following the first past the post system. Manmohan Singh became the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962 to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term, the UPA was able to put together a comfortable majority with support from 322 members out of 543 members of the House. Though this is less than the 335 members who supported the UPA in the last parliament, External support came from the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal and other minor parties. On 22 May 2009, Manmohan Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister at the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan. The election, while following the normal cycle, came after a break in the old UPA alliance after the left parties withdrew support of the Indo-US nuclear deal forcing a vote of confidence. The 2009 elections adopted re-drawn electoral constituencies based on the 2001 census, following the 2002 Delimitation Commission of India, in the 2009 general elections,499 out of the total 543 Parliamentary constituencies were newly delimited constituencies. This affected the National Capital Region of Delhi, the Union Territory of Puducherry and all the states except Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Manipur and Nagaland. As in the 2004 election, this election was conducted completely using electronic voting machines. There were 828,804 Polling Stations around the country – a 20% increase over the number from the 2004 election and this was done mainly to avoid vulnerability to threat and intimidation, to overcome geographical barriers and to reduce the distance travelled by voters. The electoral rolls had to be completely updated because of the delimitation that took effect from February 2008, the process of updating the electoral rolls continued until the last date of filing nominations. 714 million people were eligible to vote in 2009, up 6. 4% from 2004 and this election also saw the entire country except the states of Assam, Nagaland and Jammu & Kashmir use photo electoral rolls. This meant that the photo of each elector was printed on the electoral rolls, in addition to the photo electoral rolls, the electors also needed to provide separate photo identification
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Indian general election, 2014
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The Indian general election of 2014 was held to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha, electing members of parliament for all 543 parliamentary constituencies of India. Running in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014, around 23.1 million or 2. 7% of the total eligible voters were aged 18–19 years. A total of 8,251 candidates contested for the 543 Lok Sabha seats, the average election turnout over all nine phases was around 66. 38%, the highest ever in the history of Indian general elections. The results were declared on 16 May 2014, fifteen days before the 15th Lok Sabha completed its mandate on 31 May 2014. The counting exercise was held at 989 counting centres, the National Democratic Alliance won a sweeping victory, taking 336 seats. The BJP itself won 31. 0% of all votes and 282 of all seats, the United Progressive Alliance, led by the Indian National Congress, won 58 seats,44 of which were won by the Congress, that won 19. 3% of all votes. It was the Congress partys worst defeat in a general election, in order to become the official opposition party in India, a party must gain 10% of the seats in the Lok Sabha, however, the Indian National Congress was unable to attain this number. Due to this fact, India remains without an opposition party. By the requirement, elections to the Lok Sabha must be held at an interval of five years or whenever parliament is dissolved by the president. The previous election, to the 15th Lok Sabha, was conducted in April–May 2009, the election to the 16th Lok Sabha was organised and conducted by the Election Commission of India and was held in multiple phases, to better handle the large electoral base and security concerns. Since the last general election in 2009, the movement by Anna Hazare. Kejriwal went on to form a political party, Aam Aadmi Party. The 2012 presidential election resulted in Pranab Mukherjee of Indian National Congress becoming the president, Andhra politics was further shaken following the death of its chief minister, Y. S. R. Reddy. His son, Y. S. Jaganmohan Reddy, then broke from the INC and founded the YSR Congress Party, the final session of parliament started on 6 February and ended on 21 February. Amongst the agenda in the session was passing the The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill,2013 in tackling corruption. This revision of the ceiling on the elections were attributed to the increase in the number of electors, satyendra Singh, a doctor with a disability, showed the lack of preparedness by the Election Commission of India towards electors with disabilities through the Right to Information Act. The Chief Electoral Officer in Delhi, Vijay Dev then started a campaign on providing accessibility for the disabled, Singh conducted sensitisation workshops for election officers and helped in setting up a registration link for voters with disabilities to register to vote and provide their requirements. The Chief Election Commissioner of India, V. S. Sampath, voting was scheduled to be held in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May, and the results of the election were announced on 16 May
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