1.
Cabinet Secretariat of India
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The Cabinet Secretariat is responsible for the administration of the Government of India. It functions from the Secretariat Building, New Delhi, where most of the Cabinet of India sits. It comprises a set of two buildings on opposite sides of Rajpath which are home to some of the most important ministries of the Government of India, situated on Raisina Hill, New Delhi, through this mechanism new policy initiatives are also promoted. Both the buildings flank the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the South Block houses the Prime Minister Office, Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of External Affairs. The North Block primarily houses the Ministry of Finance and the Home Ministry, the terms North Block and South Block are often used to refer to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of External Affairs respectively. The Secretariat Building was designed by the prominent British architect Herbert Baker, the building adopts elements from Rajputana styles of architecture. Examples include the use of Jali – decorated to protect from the scorching sun and monsoon rains of India. Another feature of the building is a structure known as the Chatri. The style of architecture used in Secretariat Building is unique to Raisina Hill, the administrative head of the Cabinet Secretariat is the Cabinet Secretary who is also the ex officio Chairman of the Civil Services Board. As a matter of convention the most senior civil servant is appointed as a Cabinet Secretary and he belongs to the Indian Administrative Service. The incumbent generally has a tenure of 2 to 3 years, the Secretariat of the Executive Council was headed by the Cabinet Secretary. The constitution of the Interim Government in September 1946 brought a change in the name, though little in functions, the Executive Councils Secretariat was then designated as the Cabinet Secretariat. It seems, however, at least in retrospect, that Independence brought some change in the functions of the Cabinet Secretariat, the Cabinet Secretary is the administrative head of Cabinet Secretariat and all the civil services under the constitution. Thus, he is the head of all the services and he ranks eleventh in the Table of Precedence of India. Cabinet Secretariat has three wings, civil, military and intelligence, under the Cabinet Secretary, there are several secretaries heading various departments, e. g. Secretary, Secretary, Secretary and Secretary. The Directorate of Public Grievances is also under the Cabinet Secretariat, the Cabinet Secretariat is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. When any policy is made in the Cabinet Secretariat there must be signature of Prime Minister, the Prime Minister of India is the Head of the Union Government, as distinct from the President of India, who is the Head of State. Since India has adopted the Westminster model of democracy, it is the Prime Minister who oversees the day-to-day functioning of the Union Government of India
2.
Classical order
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An Order in architecture is a certain assemblage of parts subject to uniform established proportions, regulated by the office that each part has to perform. The three orders of architecture—the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian—originated in Greece, to these the Romans added, in practice if not in name, the Tuscan, which they made simpler than Doric, and the Composite, which was more ornamental than the Corinthian. The Architectural Order of a building is akin to the mode or key of classical music. It is established by certain modules like the intervals of music, Columns shrank into half-columns emerging from walls or turned into pilasters. This treatment continued after the conscious and correct use of the orders, initially following exclusively Roman models, Greek Revival architecture, inspired by increasing knowledge of Greek originals, returned to more authentic models, including ones from relatively early periods. Each style has distinctive capitals at the top of columns and horizontal entablatures which it supports, the column shaft and base also varies with the order, and is sometimes articulated with vertical hollow grooves known as fluting. The capital rests on the shaft and it has a load-bearing function, which concentrates the weight of the entablature on the supportive column, but it primarily serves an aesthetic purpose. The necking is the continuation of the shaft, but is separated by one or many grooves. The echinus lies atop the necking and it is a circular block that bulges outwards towards the top to support the abacus, which is a square or shaped block that in turn supports the entablature. The entablature consists of three layers, all of which are visually separated from each other using moldings or bands. There are names for all the parts of the orders. The height of columns are calculated in terms of a ratio between the diameter of the shaft at its base and the height of the column, sometimes this is phrased as lower diameters high, to establish which part of the shaft has been measured. There are three orders in Ancient Greek architecture, Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. These three were adopted by the Romans, who modified their capitals, the Roman adoption of the Greek orders took place in the 1st century BC. The three Ancient Greek orders have since been used in neo-classical European architecture. Sometimes the Doric order is considered the earliest order, but there is no evidence to support this, rather, the Doric and Ionic orders seem to have appeared at around the same time, the Ionic in eastern Greece and the Doric in the west and mainland. Both the Doric and the Ionic order appear to have originated in wood, the Temple of Hera in Olympia is the oldest well-preserved temple of Doric architecture. It was built just after 600 BC, the Doric order later spread across Greece and into Sicily where it was the chief order for monumental architecture for 800 years
3.
Herbert Baker
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He was born and died at Owletts in Cobham, Kent. He also designed the building at the then Prince of Wales School in Nairobi. His tomb is in Westminster Abbey, as a boy, walking and exploring the historical ruins found in the area were his favourite pastimes. He was profoundly influenced by the construction used in Norman cathedrals and Anglo-Saxon churches, as well as the ornamentation. This early influence is apparent in the churches, schools and houses he designed in South Africa. He was educated at Tonbridge School, study tours of Europe were regarded as an essential part of the course. In 1891 Baker passed his examination for Associateship of the Royal Institute of British Architects and was awarded the Ashpitel Prize for being top of his class. He worked initially for Ernest George and Harold Peto in London from 1882–87, then opened his own office in Gravesend, from 1902-1913 he developed his career in South Africa. In 1913 he returned to England and began practice in London in partnership with Alexander Scott, Bakers autobiography Architecture & Personalities was published in 1944. Rhodes sponsored Bakers further education in Greece, Italy and Egypt, after which he returned to South Africa and he had the patronage of Lord Milner, and was invited to the Transvaal to design and build residences for the British colonials. In 1902 Baker left his practice at the Cape in the hands of his partner and went to live in Johannesburg, Baker quickly became noted for his work, and was commissioned by a number of the Randlords to design houses, particularly in the suburbs of Parktown and Westcliff. He also designed commercial premises and public buildings, St Boniface Church Germiston Bishop Bavin School St. Baker used a design similar to the Greek Temple at Segesta. Rhodes University, Grahamstown Roedean School, Johannesburg Sandown House, Rondebosch, property of Charles William Hutton and then of John Molteno. In November 1910 the cornerstone of the Union Building was laid, hull, a member of the first Union Cabinet, chose Meintjieskop as the site for Bakers design. The site was that of a quarry and the existing excavations were used to create the amphitheatre. The design consisted of two wings, joined by a semicircular colonnade forming the backdrop of the amphitheatre. The colonnade was terminated on either side by a tower, each wing had a basement and three floors above ground. The interiors were created in the Cape Dutch Style with carved teak fanlights, heavy doors, dark ceiling beams contrasting with white plaster walls, Baker used indigenous materials as far as possible
4.
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
5.
Rajpath
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Rajpath is a ceremonial boulevard in New Delhi, India, that runs from Rashtrapati Bhavan on Raisina Hill through Vijay Chowk and India Gate to National Stadium, Delhi. The avenue is lined on both sides by huge lawns, canals and rows of trees, considered to be one of the most important roads in India, it is where the annual Republic Day parade takes place on 26 January. Roads from Connaught Place, the centre of Delhi, run into Rajpath from north. After climbing Raisina Hill, Rajpath is flanked by the North and South Blocks of the Secretariat Building, finally it ends at the gates of Rashtrapati Bhavan. At Vijay Chowk it crosses Sansad Marg, and the Parliament House of India can be seen to the right coming from the India Gate. It is also used for the processions of key political leaders of India. The opening scene of the movie Gandhi starts at Rajpath, the city plan of New Delhi was made by the British architect Edwin Lutyens. Rajpath was of importance to the plan. Lutyens wanted a view of the city of Delhi from the Viceroy’s palace. The view from Raisina Hill runs unhindered across Rajpath and India Gate and is obstructed only by the National Stadium, most of the buildings surrounding Rajpath, were designed by Lutyens and Herbert Baker. The Rashtrapati Bhavan, the residence of the President of India. It was the Viceroys residence before India got its independence from Britain, North Block and South Block, also called the Secretariat Building. North Block houses the offices of Finance and Home ministries, South Block hosts External affairs and Defense ministries. Other important offices like some of the Prime Ministers Offices are also in the Secretariat Buildings, India Gate is Indias war memorial arch in honour of those who died in the First World War and the Second Anglo-Afghan War. It is also Indias memorial of the unknown soldier, image of Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Secretariat buildings lit up for the Beating the Retreat at Vijay Chowk
6.
Rashtrapati Bhavan
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The Rashtrapati Bhavan, formerly known as Viceroys House, is the official home of the President of India, located at the Western end of Rajpath in New Delhi, India. In terms of area, it is one of the largest residences of a head of state in the world, the British architect Edwin Landseer Lutyens, a major member of the city-planning process, was given the primary architectural responsibility. The completed Governor-Generals palace turned out similar to the original sketches which Lutyens sent Herbert Baker, from Simla. Lutyens design is grandly classical overall, with colours and details inspired by Indian architecture, Lutyens and Baker who had been assigned to work on Viceroys House and the Secretariats, began on friendly terms. Baker had been assigned to work on the two buildings which were in front of Viceroys House. The original plan was to have Viceroys House on the top of Raisina Hill and it was later decided to build it 400 yards back, and put both buildings on top of the plateau. While Lutyens wanted Viceroys House to be higher, he was forced to move it back from the intended position, after completion, Lutyens argued with Baker, because the view of the front of the building was obscured by the high angle of the road. Lutyens campaigned for its fixing, but was not able to get it to be changed, Lutyens wanted to make a long inclined grade all the way to Viceroys House with retaining walls on either side. While this would give a view of the house further back. In 1916 the Imperial Delhi committee dismissed Lutyenss proposal to alter the gradient, Lutyens thought Baker was more concerned with making money and pleasing the government, rather than making a good architectural design. Lutyens travelled between India and England almost every year for twenty years, to work on construction of Viceroys House in both countries. Lutyens reduced the building from 13,000,000 cubic feet to 8,500,000 cubic feet because of the restrictions of Lord Hardinge. While Hardinge demanded that costs be reduced, he wanted the house to retain a certain amount of ceremonial grandeur. On 26 January 1950, when Rajendra Prasad became the first President of India and occupied this building, it was renamed as Rashtrapati Bhavan – the Presidents House. Consisting of four floors and 340 rooms, with an area of 200,000 square feet. The design process of the mansion was long, complicated and politically charged, Lutyens early designs were all starkly classical and entirely European in style. Various Indian designs were added to the building and these included several circular stone basins on top of the building, as water features are an important part of Indian architecture. It blocks harsh sunlight from the windows and also shields the windows from heavy rain during the monsoon season, on the roofline were several chuttris, which helped to break up the flatness of the roofline not covered by the dome
7.
George V
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George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his own brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, on the death of his grandmother in 1901, Georges father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910 and he was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, the Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, in 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations. He had health problems throughout much of his reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son. George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House and he was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Albert Edward and Alexandra. His father was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and he was baptised at Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley. As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was expectation that George would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, George was only 17 months younger than Albert Victor, and the two princes were educated together. John Neale Dalton was appointed as their tutor in 1871, neither Albert Victor nor George excelled intellectually. For three years from 1879, the brothers served on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the colonies of the British Empire in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia, and visited Norfolk, Virginia, as well as South America, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Dalton wrote an account of their journey entitled The Cruise of HMS Bacchante. Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton recorded a sighting of the Flying Dutchman, after Lausanne, the brothers were separated, Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge, while George continued in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world, visiting many areas of the British Empire, during his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters then HMS Thrush on the North America station, before his last active service in command of HMS Melampus in 1891–92. From then on, his rank was largely honorary
8.
Delhi
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Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi or NCT, is a city and a union territory of India. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east, the NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres. According to 2011 census, Delhis city population was about 11 million, Delhis urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundary to include an estimated population of over 26 million people making it the worlds second largest urban area. As of 2016 recent estimates of the economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the top or second most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second wealthiest city after Mumbai in India, with a wealth of $450 billion. Delhi has been inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and it has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region. New Delhi is jointly administered by the government of India and the local government of Delhi. Delhi is also the centre of the National Capital Region, which is a unique interstate regional planning area created by the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985, Delhi ranks among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world. There are a number of myths and legends associated with the origin of the name Delhi, one of them is derived from Dhillu or Dilu, a king who built a city at this location in 50 BC and named it after himself. The coins in circulation in the region under the Tomaras were called dehliwal, according to the Bhavishya Purana, King Prithiviraja of Indraprastha built a new fort in the modern-day Purana Qila area for the convenience of all four castes in his kingdom. He ordered the construction of a gateway to the fort and later named the fort dehali, another theory suggests that the citys original name was Dhillika. The people of Delhi are referred to as Delhiites or Dilliwalas, the city is referenced in various idioms of the Northern Indo-Aryan languages. Dilli dilwalon ka shehr or Dilli Dilwalon ki meaning Delhi belongs to the large-hearted/daring, aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse, literally meaning it pours all around, while Delhi lies parched. An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it refers to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty. The area around Delhi was probably inhabited before the second millennium BC, the city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to Mahabharata, this land was initially a huge mass of forests called Khandavaprastha which was burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha, the earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period, in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of eight cities have been discovered in Delhi
9.
British Raj
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The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India, the resulting political union was also called the Indian Empire and after 1876 issued passports under that name. It lasted until 1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two sovereign states, the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The British Raj extended over almost all present-day India, Pakistan and this area is very diverse, containing the Himalayan mountains, fertile floodplains, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a long coastline, tropical dry forests, arid uplands, and the Thar desert. In addition, at times, it included Aden, Lower Burma, Upper Burma, British Somaliland. Burma was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from 1937 until its independence in 1948, among other countries in the region, Ceylon was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. Ceylon was part of Madras Presidency between 1793 and 1798, the kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan, having fought wars with the British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861, however. The Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, India during the British Raj was made up of two types of territory, British India and the Native States. In general, the term British India had been used to also to the regions under the rule of the British East India Company in India from 1600 to 1858. The term has also used to refer to the British in India. The terms Indian Empire and Empire of India were not used in legislation, the monarch was known as Empress or Emperor of India and the term was often used in Queen Victorias Queens Speeches and Prorogation Speeches. The passports issued by the British Indian government had the words Indian Empire on the cover, in addition, an order of knighthood, the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, was set up in 1878. At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a Governor or a Lieutenant-Governor, during the partition of Bengal the new provinces of Assam and East Bengal were created as a Lieutenant-Governorship. In 1911, East Bengal was reunited with Bengal, and the new provinces in the east became, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, there were 565 princely states when India and Pakistan became independent from Britain in August 1947. The princely states did not form a part of British India, the larger ones had treaties with Britain that specified which rights the princes had, in the smaller ones the princes had few rights. Within the princely states external affairs, defence and most communications were under British control, the British also exercised a general influence over the states internal politics, in part through the granting or withholding of recognition of individual rulers. Although there were nearly 600 princely states, the majority were very small
10.
Edwin Lutyens
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Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM KCIE RA FRIBA was a British architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials and public buildings, the architectural historian Gavin Stamp described him as surely the greatest British architect of the twentieth century. Lutyens played a role in designing and building New Delhi. In recognition of his contribution, New Delhi is also known as Lutyens Delhi, Lutyens was born in London, the tenth of thirteen children of Captain Charles Henry Augustus Lutyens, a soldier and painter, and Mary Theresa Gallwey from Killarney, Ireland. He grew up in Thursley, Surrey and he was named after a friend of his father, the painter and sculptor Edwin Henry Landseer. For many years he worked from offices at 29 Bloomsbury Square, Lutyens studied architecture at South Kensington School of Art, London from 1885 to 1887. After college he joined the Ernest George and Harold Peto architectural practice and it was here that he first met Sir Herbert Baker. He began his own practice in 1888, his first commission being a house at Crooksbury, Farnham. During this work, he met the designer and horticulturalist Gertrude Jekyll. In 1896 he began work on a house for Jekyll at Munstead Wood near Godalming and it was the beginning of a professional partnership that would define the look of many Lutyens country houses. The Lutyens-Jekyll garden had hardy shrubbery and herbaceous plantings within an architecture of stairs. This natural style was to define the English garden until modern times, Lutyens fame grew largely through the popularity of the new lifestyle magazine Country Life created by Edward Hudson, which featured many of his house designs. One of his assistants in the 1890s was Maxwell Ayrton, here he added elements of local architectural styles to his classicism, and based his urbanisation scheme on Mughal water gardens. He also designed the Hyderabad House for the last Nizam of Hyderabad and he also designed a chalk building, Marshcourt, in Hampshire, England. Built between 1901 and 1905, it is the last of his Tudor designs, in 1903 the main school building of Amesbury Prep School in Hindhead, Surrey, was designed and built as a private residence. It has been designated a Grade II* listed building and he also designed a columbarium – the Hannen Columbarium – for the Hannen family in Wargrave in 1905. Before the end of World War I, he was appointed one of three principal architects for the Imperial War Graves Commission and was involved with the creation of monuments to commemorate the dead. Larger cemeteries have a Stone of Remembrance, designed by him, the best known of these monuments are the Cenotaph in Whitehall, Westminster, and the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, Thiepval
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