First Press Commission The first Press Commission was appointed in September 1952, under the chairmanship of Justice

G.S. Rajadhyaksha. The other 10 members included Dr C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao, P.H. Patwardhan, J. Natarajan and Chalapathi Rau. The Commission which submitted its report in 1954, made several important recommendations which helped in constituting a number of institutions and organizing the profession of journalism in a systematic manner. It was the first enquiry of its kind which delved into the working of the press and its report has been a kind of Bible for the Press hitherto. Some of the recommendations and observations of the First Press Commission are as follows: To safeguard the freedom of the press and help the press to maintain its independence. To censure objectionable types of journalistic conduct and by all other possible means to build up a code in accordance with the highest professional standards. To keep under review any development likely to restrict the supply and dissemination of news of public interest and importance. To encourage the growth of a sense of responsibility and public service among those engaged in the profession of journalism. To study the developments in the press which may tend towards concentration or monopoly and if necessary, to suggest remedies. To publish reports atleast once an year, recording its work and reviewing the performance of the press, its developments and factors affecting them To improve methods of recruitment, education and training for the profession by the creation of suitable agencies for the purpose such as Press Institutes. The news agencies should not merely keep themselves from bias and follow strictly the principles of integrity, objectivity and comprehensiveness in its coverage of news, but it should also appear to the public that the news agencies are maintaining such a course. The Commission found that the emoluments received by the journalists were on the whole unsatisfactory and recommended the appointment of a Wage Board for the working journalists. The Commission recommended the appointment of Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI). As a result of this recommendation the office of RNI verifies and regulates the availability of newspapers, registers them, containing detailed information on newspaper. The office also issues entitlement certificates to the newspapers/periodicals for the import of news print and printing machinery and allied materials required by newspapers. Indian constitution The term constitution is a Latin word that denotes an important law. A constitution is a codified written document which is the system for government. This text establishes the rules and

principles of an autonomous political entity. The Constitution of India is considered to be the supreme law of land. It sets down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishing the structure, procedures, powers and duties of the government and mentions the fundamental rights, directive principles and duties of the citizens. It is the longest written constitution of any sovereign nation and a total of 117,369 words in the English language. However, besides the English version, there is also an official Hindi version translation available. The Indian constitution declares India as a Sovereign, Socialist Democratic and Republic with a parliamentary system of government. The Constitution of India was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 and it came into force on 25th January 1950. Every law of the land enacted by the government must conform to the constitution. After the Second World War came to an end, a new government came to power in the UK. A new British government announced its Indian Policy in 1946, at the initiative of British P.M. Clement Atlee. A cabinet mission was formulated to discuss and finalise plans for the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian leadership and providing India with independence. The main aim of the cabinet mission was to discuss the framework of the Constitution of India and lay down the procedure to be followed by the constitution drafting body. The constitution was drafted by the constituent assembly and it was elected by the elected members of the provisional assemblies. Sachidanand Sincha was chosen as the first President of the constituent assembly and alter Rajendra Prasad was elected the President of the Constituent Assembly. The constituent assembly of India consisted of Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. The assembly also comprised of members from the Anglo-Indian community, scheduled classes, Parsi community and the Gorkha community. Women members were represented by Sarojini Naidu. The original draft of the constitution had only the words Sovereign Democratic Republic in the first line. The words socialist and secular were inserted by the 42 nd amendmenr and the words Unity of Nation were changed to Unity and Integrity of the Nation. The structure of the Constitution of India comprise of the Preamble, 22 parts containing 397 articles, 12 schedules of the Indian Constitution, 94 amendments and 5 appendices. The Constitution distributes its legislative powers between Parliament and State Lefislatures. The residuary powers invest in the parliament and the centrally administered territories are called Union Territories. The Constitution provides for a Parliamentary form of government which is federal in structure with the certain unitary features. The constitutional head of the Execeutives of the Union is the President. Since the enactment of the constitution has supported for a steady concentration of power to the central government especially to the Prime Minister Office (PMO).

In Article 79 of the constitution of India it is laid down that the council of parliament of the union will consist of the President and the two houses as the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People ( Lok Sabha). In Article 74 (1) it is stated that the Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the PM as its head to aid and advise the President. The real executive power is thus vested in the Council of Ministers with the PM as the head. The council of ministers is collectively responsible to the House of People (Lok Sabha). Every State of India will have a legislative assemble. However a few states have an upper house also called the State Legisative Council. The constitution also puts it as there will be a governor for each state and the executive power of the state is vested in him. He is appointed by the President as the Head of the state. The council of ministers with the chief minister as its head advises the Governor in the discharge of the executive functions. The council of ministers of the state is collectively are elected responsible to the Legislative Assemble of the State. All the ministers in the state and the union level are elected by the citizens of India. The first General elections were conducted in India in 1951, for 489 constituencies representing 26 Indian states. There were a few two-seat and even a three seat constituency only. The constitution of india is the lengthiest written document. It is flexible as well as a quasifederal in nature. The constitution discusses about the central, state government, union territories their offices, the Supreme Court, High Courts, other Courts, the Election Commission of India and all the other Government bodies function. One of the salient features of the constitution of india is its federal character. The Indian Union comprises of the Central and State governements and the Union Territories. There are 28 states and 6 union territories. The States of India are divided on the basis of the languages spoken by the people. Another feature of the constitution is its single citizenship. Though india is a federal country, Indian citizenship act of 1955 mentions the qualifications to acquire citizenship rights. It can be acquired by birth, descent, registration, naturalization and the other specified ways. The citizens of India are ensured of certain fundamental rights and fundamental duties by the Constitution. All indian citizens are guaranteed 6 fundamental rights. Another feature of the Indian constitution is the Directive principles of State policy. The Constitution of India provides its government to take policy decisions and implement them for the welfare of the Indian people. Indian constitution is an extensive document and its features are from Western legal traditions. The Constitution of India has adopted its characteristics from the British Constitution, United States, Irish, French, Canadian, Australian and Soveit Constitutions.