Current Affairs UPSC

  FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES AND DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY   Introduction   Fundamental Rights are defined as Basic human freedoms, which every Indian citizen Bas to enjoy for a proper and harmonious development of personality. It contains six rights. Fundamentals Rights are justiciable and are protected by the judiciary. The Constitution seeks to strike a balance between individual freedom and social interests through the Fundamental Duties. To make fundamental right and duties of citizens of India safe and effective, there are certain guidelines for the governance of the country given in the Directive Principles of state policy.     Fundamental Rights (Part III)   Important Feature

• Articles 12-35 of the Constitution deal with fundamental rights. Constitution does not define fundamental rights but says that they are fundamental and superior to ordinary laws. Fundamental rights cannot be altered except with constitutional amendment.
• Fundamental Rights incorporate provisions of "American Bill of Rights" and are very elaborate and comprehensive. They provide for absolute rights with judiciary having powers to impose limitations. Legislature can impose limitations on fundamental rights during national emergency.
• These can be negative obligations on the state not to encroach on individual liberty in its activities.
• They promote political democracy and prevent authoritative rule.
• In USA legislature is competent to interfere with individual rights if they endanger safety of the state and collective interests.
• Originally, the Constitution classifies Fundamental Rights under 7 groups.
• Now there are only 6 groups as Right to Property has been eliminated by the 44th Amendment Act, 1978 and transposed to a new Article - Article 300 A, which is outside Part-111 of the Constitution and has been labelled in as 'Chapter IV' of Part XII - but that is not a fundamental right.
• Fundamental rights under Articles 15, 16, 19, 29 & 30 are applicable to Indian citizens.
• Fundamental rights under Articles 14, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27 and 28 are available to all resident of India both citizens and foreigner.
• Some fundamental rights are negatively worded as prohibitions on the State like Articles - 14, 15(1), 16(2), 18(1), 20, 22(1) and 28(1)
• Fundamental rights which impose absolute limitations upon the legislative power cannot be regulated by the legislature are covered by Articles 15, 17, 18, 20 and 24.
• All fundamental rights are guaranteed against state action. If Rights under Article 19 and Article 21 are violated by an individual, legal remedies but not Constitutional remedies are available.
• Article 12 defines the State which includes:

Government and Indian parliament i.e. executive and Legislature of the Union.

Government and legislature of the states.

All local and other authorities within the territory of India.

All local and other authorities under the control of GOI.

• Article 13 confers the power of judicial review to the courts of all legislative more...

  UNION GOVERNMENT   Introduction   The Government of India or the Central or the Union Government is divided into three main sections, namely the executive, Legislature and the judiciary.   The union Government PART V (ARTICLES 52 TO 151) deals with the Executive, Parliament (Legislature), Union Judiciary and the coptroller and Auditor General of India.     Union Executive: Articles 52 to 78 (Part V). Union Executive in India consists, of the President, Vice-President, Prime minister and his/her Council of ministers and the Attorney General of India.         UNION EXECUTIVE   The President    

• Article 52: There shall be a President of India. He shall be the head of the state.
• Article 53: Executive powers of the Union shall be vested in the President, exercised by him either directly or through the officers subordinate to him, who give aid and advice to the President for the exercise of powers.

Election of the President (Articles 54 & 55)

• Article 54 provides that President shall be elected by an electoral college consisting of:-

(a) Elected members of both houses of parliament. (b) Elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states.

• Word "State" includes "National Capital Territory of Delhi" and UT of Pondicherry (Puducherry). This was added by 70th Amendment Act, 1992.

Members of legislative councils (in case of the bicameral legislature in state) do not participate in presidential election. Nominated members of both the Houses at the Centre and the States do not have voting rights in the election of the President.

• Article 55 (3) states that the election of the President shall be held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. Voting is done through secret ballot.
• Article 55(1) provides that as far as practicable there shall be uniformity in the scale of representation among the states as well as parity between the states as a whole and the Union in the election of the President.
• To secure uniformity among states and parity between the Union and states following formula is adopted:

Value of the cote of an MLA \[=\frac{Total\,\,population\,\,of\,\,the\,\,state}{\begin{align}   & Elected\,\,members\,\,of\,\,the\,\,state \\  & legislative\,\,assembly\times 1000 \\ \end{align}}\] Value of vote of an MP\[=\frac{MLAs\,\,of\,\,all\,\,states}{Total\,\,Nos.\,\,of\,\,elected\,\,MPs}\] Population data used for these calculations are of 1971 census. 42nd amendment, 1976 froze the "last preceding census" to 1971, till the first census after 2000. In 2000, the Union cabinet decided to extend the freeze on fresh delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies up to 2026. The argument was that the states which had better population control thought that such a revision would reduce their seats in the parliament.  After calculating the value of vote of MLAs and MPs, a complex system of calculating the quota of individual candidates is used which more...

  STATE GOVERNMENT   Introduction  The Constitution provides for a Federal Government having separate administrative systems for the states. Provisions for the governance of both are contained in the Constitution. Articles 153 to 167 is Part VI of the Constitution deal with the state executive. The pattern of Government at the State level is the same as that at the Union level is a parliamentary system, in which the executive head is a constitutional ruler who is to act according to the advice of council of Ministers responsible to the State Legislature.     STATE EXECUTIVE   Governor   Article 153 states that there shall be a Governor for each state. Same person can be appointed as Governor for 2 or more states was added by 7th amendment act 1956. Article 154 states that the executive power of the state is vested in him and is exercised by him either directly or through officers subordinate to him.   Appointment & Tenure (Article 155 & 156)

• Governor is the executive Head/Nominal Head of the State.
• Governor of a State is appointed by the President.
• Hold office during the pleasure of the President.
• May resign by submitting his resignation to the President.
• Otherwise the normal term of his office is 5 years.
• Grounds for removal of the Governor are not mentioned in the Constitution; however he must be involved in the gross deliquency like bribery, treason or violation of the Constitution for such an action.
• A President may transfer a Governor appointed to one State to another State for rest of the term.
• A Governor whose term has expired may be reappointed in the same State or any other State.

  Qualifications & Conditions for office (article 157 & 158) of Governor

• He must be -
• A citizen of India.
• Has attained 35 years of age.
• Not a Member of Parliament or state legislature.
• Not hold any office of profit under the government.
• His emoluments, allowances and privileges are determined by parliament by law.
• The emoluments are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India and cannot be diminished during his term of office.
• If the same person acts as Governor of 2 or more states, the Constitution provides that President may decide about the allocation of emoluments of Governor among states proportion wise (Article 158(3A)).

  Oath Article 159 says that the Governor and every person discharging the functions of the Governor is to take an oath or affirmation before the Chief Justice of the High Court of that state, or in his absence, the senior-most judge of that court available. Article 160 gives the president the power to make such provision as he thinks fit for the discharge of the functions of the Governor in any contingency not provided for in more...

  LOCAL GOVERNMENT   Introduction   The local self-Government includes both rural and urban government. It is the third level of the government. There are 2 types of local government in operation – panchayatas in rural areas and Municipalities in urban area. Lord riporn is Known as the Father of the local self-Government. RURAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT   Panchayati Raj   The term Panchayti Raj in India signifies the system of rural local self-government. It has been established in all the states of India by the Acts of the State Legislatures to build democracy at the grass root level. It is entrusted with rural development. It was constituationlised through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act 1992. A village or a group of villages, formed a panchayat of elected representatives, a few Panchayats formed a Panchayat Samiti and the various Panchayat Samities of a district were governed by a Zila Parishad and these three institutions had a three fold purpose: (i) to be autonomous and self-governing to some extent. (ii) to play an effective role in drawing up the 5 year plans. (iii) to have scope for initiative and readjustment in implementing the plans to suit local needs.   Evolution of Panchayati Raj

• The Narasimha Rao Government introduced the Constitutional Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha in September, 1991.
• It was passed by the Lok Sabha on 22nd December, 1992 and by the Rajya Sabha on 23rd December. Later it was, approved by the 17 State Assemblies and received the assent of the President of India on 20th April, 1993.
• Thus, it emerged as the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 and came into force on 24th April, 1993.
• Rajasthan was the first state to establish the institutiol ofPanchayati Raj in Nagaur District in 1959. Rajasthan was followed by Andhra Pradesh.

  Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957)

• It was set up to examine the working of the Community Development Programme (1952) and the Nations Extension Service (1953).
• Recommendations:

(i) Three-tier Panchayati Raj system: Gram Panchayat at the Village level, Panchayat Samiti at the block level, Zila Parishad at the district level. (ii) Village Panchayat is directly elected, while the Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad constituted with indirectly elected members. (iii) Panchayat Samiti is the executive body, while the Zila Parishad is the advisory, coordinating and supervisory body. (iv) The District Collector should be the Chairman of the Zila Parishad.   K Santhanam Committee One of the prime areas of concern in this long debate on Panchayati Raj Institutions was fiscal decentralisation. The K Santhanam Committee was appointed to look solely at the issue of PRI finance, in 1963.   Recommendations

• Panchayats should have special powers to levy special tax on land revenues, home taxes, etc.
• All grants and subventions at the more...

  JUDICIARY   Introduction The Indian Judicial System is one of the oldest legal 'systems m the world today. federal system of government, the Constitution has provided for the setting up of a single integrated system of courts to administrator both Union and State laws. The above simple Flowchart illustrates sub-ordinate courts- both Civil and Criminal courts - at (i) Metropolitan and (ii) District levels. Besides, it illustrates the hierarchy in terms of (i) Labor Courts and (ii) Family Courts together with specialized tribunals. However, if required, the hierarchy can be illustrated in a different manner for those who want to have the structure by (i) Civil Courts at (a) Metropolitan and (b) District levels and (ii) Criminal Courts at (a) Metropolitan and (b) District levels, i.e.       Union Judiciary Supreme Court (Articles 124-147) The Supreme Court of India was inaugurated on January 28, 1950. It succeeded the Federal Court of India, established under the Government of India Act of 1935. Article 124 to 147 in part V of the Constitution deal with me organisation, independence, jurisdiction, powers, procedures and so on of the Supreme Court. The Parliament is also authorised to regulate them. Supreme Court is the final interpreter and guardian of our Constitution. It is also the guardian of Fundamental rights of the people. It decides the disputes between Centre and States regarding encroachment of power, thus maintains the supremacy of the Constitution. It is the highest court of appeal in India. Originally the total number of judges was 7, but in 1977, their number was increased to 18. In 1986, it was further raised to 26 (including CJI). Presently there are 31 Judges in Supreme court. Constitution does not provide for minimum no. of judges who will constitute a bench for hearing cases. Largest bench constituted so far has been of 13 judges in Keshavanand Bharati vs. Union of India case in 1973.     Appointment and Removal of Judges Qualifications to be appointed as a judge of Supreme Court: He must be a citizen of India. He must either be a distinguished jurist, or one who has been a High Court judge for at least 5 years or an advocate of a High Court (or 2 or more such courts in succession) for at least 10 years (Article 124). No minimum age is fixed for the appointment of a judge. The Chief Justice of India is appointed by the President. In this matter, the President shall consult such judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts as he may deem necessary. A 9 judge bench of the SC has laid down that the senior most judge of Supreme Court should be appointed as Chief Justice of India. In the appointment of other judges, the President more...

  Miscellaneous Topics   Introduction   Miscelleneous chapter consists many different kinds of topics that are not connected and do not easily from a group and are of different nature. In Likewise, different topics for examples planning commission/NITI Aayog, Finance Commission, Election Commision, National Commission, UPSC, and many more given in the chart below are covered in this chapter.     Planning Commision  

• Constituted in March 1950 by a resolution of the Government of India on the recommendation of the Advisory Planning Board in 1946 under the chairmanship of K.C. Neogi.
• Planning Commission is neither a constitutional body nor a statutory body. It is a non-constitutional or extra- constitutional or a non-statutory body.
• Objective is to formulate 5 year plans for economic and social development and to advice Central government in this regard.

    NITI Aayog   The Government of India has replaced Planning Commission with a new institution named NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India). The institution will serve as 'Think Tank' of the Government - a directional and policy dynamo. NITI Aayog will provide Governments at the Central and State Levels with relevant strategic and technical advice across the spectrum of key elements of policy, which includes matters of national and international importance on the economic front, dissemination of best practices from within the country as well as from other nations, the infusion of new policy ideas and specific issue-based support. Composition NITI Aayog will have Prime Minister as its chairman, one Vice-Chairman cum chief-executive officer, 3 full time members and 2 part time members, apart from 4 Central Government ministers.   NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India)   Present members of NITI Aayog    

Chairperson	Vice ChairPerson	Full-Time Members	Ex-officio Members	Special Invites	Chief Executive Officer
more... Catgeory: UPSC Notes - Amendments And Articles of The Indian Constitution   AMENDMENTS & ARTICLES OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION   Amendment Procedures under Indian Constitution Indian Constitution is a balanced Constitution. The farmers of the constitution desired to secure balance and moderate in incorporating various provision in our Constitution. As far as the amendments of the Constitution is concerned, a balance is struck in making the Constitution partly rigid and partly flexible. A flexible Constitution is one, which can be easily amended like ordinary law of the land. On the contrary, a rigid Constitution is one whose amendment is very difficult and where there is a distinction between the amendment of the Constitutional law and ordinary law. Both the types of Constitutions had their merits and demerits. The proposal for amending the Constitution can be initiated only in the Union Legislature and the state legislatures have no such power. But the farmers of the Indian Constitution did not go to the extreme. They incorporated a unique procedure of amendment which combines both rigidity and flexibility. In this connection, it is worldwhile to quote Pandit Nehru who clearly stated, "While one wants this constitution to be solid and permanent as we can make it, there is no permanence in the Constitution. There should be certain flexibility. If you make anything rigid and permanent you stop the nation's growth, the growth of a living vital organic people. Methods of Amendments Article 368 of the Constitution deals with procedure of amendments of the Constitution. It can be amended in three different ways: An amendment of the Constitution may be initiated only by the introduction of a bill for the purpose in either house of Parliament and when a bill is passed in each house. (i) By a majority of total membership of that house. (ii) By a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that house present and voting, it shall be presented to the President who shall give his assent to the Bill and there upon the Constitution shall stand amended in accordance with the term of the Bill. Most of the provisions of the Constitution can be amended by this procedure. For amending certain provisions a special procedure to be followed, e.g. (i) A Bill for the purpose must be passed in each house of parliament by a majority of total membership of the house. (ii) By a majority of not less than two-third of the members of that house present and voting and (iii) It should be notified by the legislatures of not less than one-half of the states before the Bill is presented to the President for assent. The provisions requiring this special procedure to be followed include: (a) Manner of the election of the President. (b) Matters relating to the executive power of the Union and of the state. (c) Representation of me states in Parliament. (d) Matters relating to the Union Judiciary and High Courts in the states. (e) Distribution of legislative powers between the Union and more... Catgeory: UPSC Periodic Classification of Elements Periodic Classification of Elements     The grouping of elements with similar properties together and the separation of elements with dissimilar properties is known as classification of elements. The table, which classification of elements on the basis of their properties, is called the periodic table. Dobereiner grouped the elements into triads and Newlands gave the Law of Octaves. Mendeleev arranged the elements in increasing order of their atomic masses and according to their chemical properties.   Dobereiner’s Triads arranged elements in an increasing order of atomic mass, in groups of three. The atomic mass of the middle element was the arithmetic mean of the other two elements of the triad.   Newland’s law of octaves states that on arranging elements in increasing order of their atomic mass, the eight element resembles the first in physical and chemical properties, just like the eight node on a musical scale resembles the first note.   According to Mendeleev’s periodic law, the physical and chemical properties of elements are periodic functions of their atomic mass. Mendeleev corrected the atomic masses of a few elements on the basis of their positions in the periodic table. Mendeleev even predicted the existence of some yet to be discovered elements on the basis of gaps in his Periodic Table.   Mendeleev’s Periodic Table contains vertical columns called ‘group’ and horizontal rows called ‘periods’. While developing the Periodic Table, there were a few instances where Mendeleev had to place an element with a slightly greater atomic mass before an element with a slightly lower atomic mass. The sequence was inverted so that elements with similar was inverted so that elements with similar properties could be grouped together. Mendeleev’s table could not assign a proper position to hydrogen or to the lanthanides and actinides and isotopes. Isotopes of all elements posed a challenge to Mendeleev’s Periodic Law. Another problem was that the atomic masses do not increase in a regular manner in going from one element to the next. So it was not possible to predict how many elements could be discovered between two elements - especially when we consider the heavier elements.   In 1913, Henry Moseley showed that the atomic number of an element is a more fundamental property than its atomic mass. Accordingly, Mendeleev’s Periodic Law was modified and atomic number was adopted as the basis of Modern Periodic Table and the Modern Periodic Law.   The vertical columns are called groups, while the horizontal rows are called periods. The noble gases are on the extreme right of the table and on the table’s extreme left, are the alkali metals. Transition elements are placed in the B subgroups in the middle of the table. The inner transition elements lanthanides and actinides, are placed in two separate series at the bottom of the periodic table. Group number more... Catgeory: UPSC Properties of Gases Properties of Gases     Properties of Gases First, we know that a gas has no definite volume or shape; a gas will fill whatever volume is available to it. Contrast this to the behavior of a liquid, which always has a distinct upper surface when its volume is less than that of the space it occupies.   The other outstanding characteristic or gases is their low densities, compared with those of liquids and solids. The most remarkable property of gases, however, is that to a very good approximation, they all behave the same way in response to changes in temperature and pressure, expanding or contracting by predictable amounts. This is very different from the behavior of liquids or solids, in which the properties of each particular substance must be determined individually.   All gases expand equally due to equally due to equal temperature difference.   Diffusion of gases: The phenomenon in which a substance mixes with another because of molecular motion, even against gravity- is called diffusion.   The pressure of a gas: The molecules of a gas, being in continuous motion, frequently strike the inner walls of their container. As they do so, they immediately bounce off without loss of kinetic energy, but the reversal of direction (acceleration) imparts a force to the container walls. This force, divided by the total surface area on which it acts, is the pressure of the gas.   The unit of pressure in the SI system is the pascal (Pa), defined as a force of one newton per square meter (1 Nm-2 = 1kg m-1 s-2.)   Temperature and Temperature Scale: Temperature is defined as the measure of average heat. Temperature is independent of the number of particles or size and shape of the object. The water boiling temperature is same for all types of containers.   Thermometer: The device which is used to define the measure of temperature of an object is Thermometer.   Temperature scale: A reference scale with respect to which the temperatures can be measured is known as ‘scale of temperature’ Various scales of temperatures are in use. Important scales of temperature are:   (i) Celsius scale (ii) Kelvin scale (iii) Fahrenheit scale (iv) To devise a scale of temperature, fixed reference points (temperature) are required, with respect to which all other temperatures are measured. For both Celsius and Fahrenheit Scales of temperatures, the fixed points are as follows   Lower fixed point: Melting point of pure ice at normal atmospheric pressure is regarded as the lower fixed point.   Upper fixed point: Boiling point of pure water at normal atmospheric pressure is regarded as the lower fixed point.   Celsius scale: In this scale the more... Catgeory: UPSC Properties of Matters Properties of Matters     Properties of matters: A matter can neither be created nor it can be destroyed but it can be transformed from one state to another. Matter is made of basic building blocks commonly called elements which are 112 in number. The matter is made of only one kind of element then the smallest unit of that element is called an atom. If the matter is made of two or more different elements then the smallest unit of matter is called a molecule.   Molecule is defined as the smallest unit of matter which has independent existence and can retain complete physical and chemical properties of matters.   According to kinetic theory of matter: (i). molecules are in the state of continuous motion in all possible directions and hence they possess kinetic energy which increases with the gain of heat energy or rise in temperature, (ii). the molecules always attract each other, (iii). the force of attraction between the molecules decreases with the increase in intermolecular spaces   The molecules always attract each other. The force of attraction between the similar kinds of molecules is called force of cohesion whereas the force of attraction between different kinds of molecules is called force of adhesion.   In case of solids, the intermolecular space being very small, so intermolecular forces are very large and hence solids have definite size and shape.   In case of liquids, the intermolecular space being large, so intermolecular forces are small and hence liquids have definite volume but no definite shape.   In case of gases, the intermolecular space being very large, so intermolecular forces are extremely small and hence gases have neither a definite volume and nor definite shape.   A solid has definite shape and size. In order to change (or deform) the shape or size of a body, a force is required. If you stretch a helical spring by gently pulling its ends, the length of the spring increases slightly. When you leave the ends of the spring, it regains its original size and shape. The property of a body, by virtue of which it tends to regain its original size and shape when the applied force is removed, is known as elasticity and the deformation caused is known as elastic deformation.   However, if you apply force to a lump of putty or mud, they have no gross tendency to regain their previous shape, and they get permanently deformed. Such substances are called plastic and this property is called plasticity. Putty and mud are close to ideal plastics.   When a force is applied on body, it is deformed to a small or large extent depending upon the nature of the material of the body and the more... 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