Prelims 2018 Current Affairs Polity

An Institute for Civil Services
Prelims
2018
Current
Affairs
Indian Polity
for Civil Services Examination www.iasscore.in
INDIAN POLITY
Index
Citizenship
1. Concept of PIO, OCI and NRI
2. Voting Rights to NRI
Issues related to Fundamental Rights
3. Aadhar - Right to Privacy
4. Triple Talaq
5. Uniform Civil Code
6. Justice Verma Committee Report on Marital Rape
7. Hate Speech
8. National Anthem - No More Mandatory in Cinema Halls
9. Child Labour Convention Ratified
10. Special Schools for Minorities and Tribals
11. Bill on Mob Violence
12. RTE Amendment Bill Passed
13. Anti Racial Discrimination Provisions in IPC
Executive and Legislature
14. Election of the President
15. Office of Profit
16. Types of CAG Audit
17. Committee of Governor’s Report
18. Reforms in Parliamentary Functioning
19. Delimitation
20. Concept of Whip
21. Motion of Thanks
22. Privileges to MPs
23. Ordinance
24. Money Bill
25. Ethics Committee in Parliament
26. Parliamentary Committees
27. Disqualification of Rajya Sabha Members
28. Private Member Bill
Judiciary
29. NJAC Vs. Collegium
30. National Court of Appeal
31. Inter-State Water Dispute Redressal Mechanism
32. Initiatives to Enhance Judicial System
33. All India Judicial Services
34. Tribunals
35. Centre for Vulnerable in High Court
36. Allahabad High Court Judge to be Impeached
37. Terms in News
IAS 2018 || Current Affairs Programme
Centre-State Relations
38. Cooperative Federalism
39. Issue of President Rule
40. 15th Finance Commission
41. UT's Administration and Issues
42. Different State News
Elections
43. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC): Appointment Issue
44. State Funding in Elections
45. Changes in Corporate Funding
46. NOTA in Elections
47. E-Postal Ballots
48. Simultaneous Elections
49. Electoral Bonds Notified
Miscellaneous
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50. Lateral Entry into Civil Services
51. DP singh UGC Chairman
52. Go Green Initiative in Parliament and State Assemblies
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53. National Register of Citizens in Assam
54. Nagaland Declared as Disturbed Area for 6 More Months
55. Arunachal Pradesh: Open Defecation Free
56. Bal doctors
57. Gandikota-chitravathi Project
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58. 'COMMIT' Training Programme
59. Cooperative Movement in India
60. Umbrella Scheme of Police Modernization
61. MPLAD Funds
62. Public Financial Management System
63. Central Vigilance Commission
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INDIAN POLITY
1. Concept of PIO, OCI and NRI

• NRI (Non Resident Indian) is a citizen of India who holds an Indian
passport and has temporarily emigrated to another country for six
months or more for work, study, medical treatment, residence or any
other purposes.
• PIO (Person of Indian Origin) is a citizen of any other country but
whose any of ancestors were an Indian national (at least four
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generations away) and who is presently holding another country's
citizenship/nationality, i.e. s/he is holding foreign passport.
•
OR
OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) is provided to a foreign national,
who was eligible to become a citizen of India on 26 Jan 1950, or was
a citizen of India on or at any time after 26 Jan 1950, or belonged to a
territory that became part of India after 15 Aug 1947.
Drawbacks of PIO Card • It does not provide voting rights to the holder. Prior permission is
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needed to undertake mountaineering expeditions or any such related
research work in protected areas.
Meanwhile, the PM promoted the idea of converting their PIO cards with
OCI cards. The OCI cards also provided several benefits.
The Benefits of OCI Cards • OCI is essentially a lifetime visa status offered by India to an Indian
are Substantial person who has given up his citizenship.
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• If a person remain an OCI for 5 years, he can attain Indian citizenship

and then live in India for a period of one year including short breaks.
• Special immigration counters are provided at all international airports
in India for OCI card holders.
• An OCI card holder can open special bank accounts in India just
like NRIs and make investments. OCI holders can also buy non-farm
property and exercise ownership rights.
• An OCI card allows the person to apply for a driving license, PAN
card or open a bank account in India. He gets same economic, financial
and educational benefits like NRIs and you can also adopt children.
Restrictions for OCI Card • An OCI card holder cannot vote, hold a government job or purchase
Holders agricultural or farm land. The person can also not run for public office
or travel to restricted areas without permission.
The government of India has merged the Person of Indian Origin (PIO)
Card into the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) Card scheme.
The merger of these two cards can make PIO card holders also eligible for
the benefits availed by OCI cards holders. This will provide visa-free travel
to India, rights of residency and participation in business and educational
activities in the country.
The card holders can enter India with a lifelong visa and will be exempted
from registration with local police authority for any length of stay in the
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country. All facilities in respect to investing in India are permissible except
acquiring agricultural land.
2. Voting Rights to NRI

• Union Cabinet has approved changes in certain electoral laws, which
will allow Non-Residents of India (NRIs) to vote through a proxy in
state and national elections. If passed in parliament, NRIs would be
able to exercise their franchise through a stand-in who lives in their
(elector's) constituency.
What is Proxy Voting? • Proxy voting is a type of voting whereby a member can delegate
his or her voting power to a representative, to enable a vote in
their absence.
• Presently only service personnel are permitted to vote through
proxy.
Why it is Needed? • India has the largest NRI population in the world with over 13
million according to United Nations Department of Economic and
Social Affairs.
• To encourage NRIs for participation in political and social issues of
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India and to increase their contribution in welfare activities in India.
• There is need to increase the citizen participation beyond boundaries
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worldwide. Moreover NRI, remit huge amount and deserve a say in
government decision making.
• Earlier as it was compulsory for NRI to visit India to cast their
vote.
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Advantages • This decision will remove an unreasonable restriction posed by Section

20(A) of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act of 2010,
requiring overseas electors to be physically present in their
constituencies to cast their votes.
• It will help to connect NRIs with government and will increase the
soft diplomacy power of India.
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• It will enable India to provide voting rights to NRIs which are enshrined
to be given under Article 326.
• It will also encourage & increase the investment in the nation and will
lead to economic growth led by NRIs.
• The sectors like tourism, education and insurance will also potentially
be benefitted by this move.
Criticism • NRIs may not know regarding domestic conditions so there are
arguments that a provision of proxy threatens the very core of domestic
democracy.
• It cannot be guaranteed that the proxy voter will vote as per the wishes
of the actual voter.
• High chances of electoral malpractices because proxy or postal ballots
are open to manipulation. And also there is no guarantee that votes
would not be sold to the so called proxy.
3. Aadhar - Right to Privacy

About Aadhar • Aadhaar was designed as a digital identity platform which is inclusive,
unique and can be authenticated to participate in any digital transaction.
• This has transformed the service delivery in our country and reducing
leakages. Direct benefit transfer, subscription to various services and
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authentication at the point of service delivery are some of the benefits
which have accrued.
There were multiple benefits of the Aadhaar concept. These are discussed
as below:
• Universalization, uniqueness and inclusion: To provide unique Identity
proof to all residents so that no one is excluded from the government
welfare programmes in absence of any other identity, which used to
happen earlier.
• Reduction in corruption: DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) also protects
beneficiaries from harassment and removes administrative difficulties.
• Protection of privacy and misuse of information: e-KYC can be
used as a check against misuse of personal data in photocopy format.
Therefore, it protects violation of privacy, and misuse of personal data.
Otherwise telecom companies used to give sim card by misusing
identity proofs.
What are Specific Features • Privacy by design as randomization, minimal information along with
of Aadhaar? high level of encryption are used to ensure privacy.
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• Has legal basis in Aadhar Act which criminalizes impersonation, misuse
of Aadhaar information by any agency.
Aadhar and Right to Privacy

•
•
OR
It is not linked to entitlements, i.e. having Aadhaar does not entitles to
certain benefits.
Collection of biometrics has often been quoted as one of the means of
violating privacy. Biometrics are essential to ensure uniqueness, a key
requirement for this project. Additionally, these biometrics can be used
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for authentication for financial transactions, getting mobile SIMs and
various other services using electronic KYC (e-KYC).
• Another principle of privacy by design states that one should collect
only minimal data. As UIDAI was creating identity infrastructure, it
was decided that only a minimal set of data, just sufficient to establish
identity, should be collected from residents. This irreducible set
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contained only four elements: name, gender, age and communication

address of the resident.
• The Aadhaar Act has clear restrictions on data sharing. No data
download is permitted, search is not allowed and the only response
which UIDAI gives to an authentication request is 'yes' or 'no'. No
personal information is divulged.
Supreme Court judgment on Right to Privacy and its implication on Aadhar
• The Judgment said that "The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic
part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a
part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution."
• The Court has reiterated an earlier view from the two-judge bench
decision of the SC that while the State may gain access to private
information of individuals for legitimate state aims, this power cannot
be delegated to private persons. The State has to ensure that collected
private information should not fall in the hands of other private persons.
This raises serious questions about Aadhaar or other initiatives of the
government, where data collection has been delegated to private
entities.
4. Triple Talaq
What is Triple Talaq? • Triple talaq is the practice under which a Muslim man can divorce his
wife by simply uttering "talaq" three times.
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• It has been banned by law in many countries around the world but is
still valid in India.
Supreme Court's Decision on • The judges have struck down talaq-e-biddat as it is violative of the
Triple Talaq provisions of Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25 of the Constitution. In other
words, the court observed that instant triple talaq is illegal, void and
unconstitutional.
Muslim Women (Protection of • The Union government has set up a ministerial committee to frame a
Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 new law that would attract penal provisions in the case of use of triple
talaq or talaq-e-biddat for divorce between Muslim couples, and will
be bringing the new Bill in the winter session of Parliament.
• Thus government of India has introduced Muslim Women (Protection
of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 to ban the practice of triple talaq.
Salient Provisions of the Bill • The Bill makes all declaration of talaq, including in written or
electronic form, to be void (i.e. not enforceable in law) and illegal.
It defines talaq as talaq-e-biddat or any other similar form of talaq
pronounced by a Muslim man resulting in instant and irrevocable
divorce.
• Offence and penalty: The Bill makes declaration of talaq a
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cognizable and non-bailable offence. (A cognizable offence is one
for which a police officer may arrest an accused person without
warrant.) A husband declaring talaq can be imprisoned for up to
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three years along with a fine.
• Allowance: A Muslim woman against whom talaq has been declared,
is entitled to seek subsistence allowance from her husband for herself
and for her dependent children. The amount of the allowance will be
decided by a First Class Magistrate.
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• Custody of minor children: A Muslim woman against whom such

talaq has been declared, is entitled to seek custody of her minor
children. The determination of custody will be made by the Magistrate.
It will be applicable to the entire country except Jammu and Kashmir.
The Union government's bid to frame a law which will make triple talaq a
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criminal offence may be misused to harass Muslim men as it happened in

case of Section 498 (A).
5. Uniform Civil Code

Article 44 • Article 44 of the Directive Principles of the Constitution specifies
that the State shall endeavour to secure for citizens a uniform civil
code throughout the territory of India.
Civil Code • Civil code refers to laws that deal with civil matters like marriage,
divorce, adoption, succession and inheritance.
• Hindus are governed by the Hindu Civil Code, which refers to the
four bills passed in 1955-56: the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu
Succession Act, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, and Hindu
Adoptions and Maintenance Act.
• For similar issues, citizens from other faiths are governed by other
laws. For example, the Indian Christian Marriage Act of 1872 governs
marriage and related issues for Indian Christians.
• 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.
Personal laws are distinguished from public law and cover marriage,
divorce, inheritance, adoption and maintenance.
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Need for Uniform Civil Code There are two primary reasons propounded for a uniform civil code:
• First, that a secular republic should have a common civil law for its
citizens, irrespective of their religion.
• Second, to achieve gender justice, as the personal laws of almost all
religions are discriminatory towards women.
Arguments in Favour of UCC • It will enhance the status of women and so-called lower castes as
many personal laws are biased against them.
• Many provisions are violations of human rights.
• Article 25 and 26 guarantee freedom of religion and UCC is not
opposed to secularism.
• Will help in reducing vote bank politics that most political parties
indulge in during elections and in National integration.
6. Justice Verma Committee Report on Marital Rape

What is Marital Rape? Marital Rape refers to unwanted intercourse by a man with his wife obtained
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by force, threat of force, or physical violence, or when she is unable to
give consent.
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Arguments against criminalizing of Marital Rape:
• Marital rape is not defined in any statue/laws. As to what constitutes
marital rape and what would constitute marital non-rape needs to be
defined precisely before a view on its criminalization is taken.
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• Criminal law is in the Concurrent List and implemented by the States.
There is a vast diversity in the cultures of these states. It is necessary
to implead the State Governments in the matter to know the opinion of
these states to avoid any complications at a later stage.
Arguments in Favour of • Marital rape is also considered as the violation of Fundamental
Criminalizing Marital Rape Right guaranteed under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution which
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guarantees the equal protection of laws to all persons.

• By depriving married women of an effective penal remedy against
forced sexual intercourse, it violates their right to privacy and bodily
integrity, aspects of the right to life and personal liberty under Article
21. The United Nations has also recommended to India to make it
crime for a man to rape his wife.
Justice J.S. Verma committee recommended sweeping changes in the
law relating to offences against women, called for marital rape to be
made an offence.
7. Hate Speech
What is Hate Speech? • Hate speech is an expression which is likely to cause distress or offend
other individuals on the basis of their association with a particular
group or incite hostility towards them.
Legislations around Presently, in our country the following legislations have bearing on hate
Hate Speech speech, namely:
A. The Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter IPC)
• Section 124A IPC penalises sedition and Section 153A IPC
penalises 'promotion of enmity between different groups on
grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.,
and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony'.
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B. The Representation of the People Act, 1951
• Section 8 disqualifies a person from contesting election if he is
convicted for indulging in acts amounting to illegitimate use of
freedom of speech and expression.
• Section 123(3A) and Section 125 prohibits promotion of enmity
on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language in
connection with election as a corrupt electoral practice and
prohibits it.
C. The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955
• Section 7 penalises incitement to, and encouragement of
untouchability through words, either spoken or written, or by signs
or by visible representations or otherwise the Religious Institutions
(Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1988.
The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2017 suggested by the Law
Commission proposes to add Section 153C (prohibiting incitement to
hatred) and Section 505A (causing fear, alarm, or provocation of violence
in certain cases) in the IPC and make the necessary changes in the Criminal
Procedure Code.
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These Sections of IPC have been criticised on the ground that they are misused to encroach upon fundamental right
of freedom of speech even when a person expresses conflicting viewpoint.
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Article 19(1)(a) of the Indian Constitution lays down that all citizens of India shall have freedom of speech and
expression but the right is not absolute. It is restricted by the Article 19(2), which says that nothing prevents the
State from making any law in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India.
8. National Anthem - No More Mandatory in Cinema Halls

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Introduction • In an order on November 30, 2016 Supreme Court of India said that
the National Anthem should be played or sung in cinema halls across
the country before the starting of a feature film. The apex court said
that there should be National Flag on the screen when the National
Anthem is played.
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• However, in the recent verdict, the Supreme Court bench of Chief

Justice replacing the word "shall" with "may" in direction in the
order issued by it, ruled that the playing of the national anthem by
movie halls shall be deemed to be directory and not mandatory.
The Prevention of insults of National Honour Act, 1971
• Petition by S.N.Chouksey contended that there were several lacunae in the Prevention of Insults to National
Honour Act, 1971 as it does not define what constitutes disrespect to the national anthem. "The Act only says
what constitutes disrespect to the national flag and Constitution. In the case of national anthem, only limited
explanations are given.
• The 1971 Act states: "Whoever intentionally prevents the singing of the Jana Gana Mana or causes disturbances
to any assembly engaged in such singing shall be punished with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to
three years, or with fine, or with both."
• Section 3 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 (as amended in 2005) does not
dictate whether a person should sit or stand when the anthem is playing or sung.
Verdict has been referred to Article 51 (A) of the Indian Constitution which contend that it was the duty
of every person to show respect when the anthem is played.
9. Child Labour Convention Ratified

• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for ratification of the two
fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization
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namely, (1) Minimum Age Convention (No 138) concerning minimum
age for admission to employment, and (2) the Worst Forms of Child
Labour Convention (No 182) concerning the prohibition and
immediate action for elimination of the worst forms of Child Labour.
Steps taken by the Government • A landmark step in the endeavour to have a child labour free society
was the enactment of the Child labour (Prohibition and Prevention)
amendment Act, 2016 that provides for complete prohibition on
employment of children below 14 years in all occupations and
processes and prohibits employment of adolescents (14-18 years)
in hazardous occupations and processes. The age of admission to
employment has been linked to the age of compulsory education under
Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009.
• Government of India has also notified the amendment in the Child
Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Central Rules after extensive
consultation with the stakeholders. The Rules for the first time provide
broad and specific framework for prevention, prohibition, rescue and
rehabilitation of child and adolescent workers.
• "PENCIL": an electronic platform for effective enforcement for
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no child labour developed by Ministry of Labour. The main
components of PENCIL portal are complaint corner, child & adolescent
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labour tracking system, NCLP and State Resource Centre which are
connected with the Ministry of Labour & Employment.
10. Special Schools for Minorities and Tribals

• The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) will soon
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establish separate schools for minorities and tribals on the lines of
Kendriya Vidyalayas. These schools will be run by the Central
government on KV model and will follow NCERT syllabus.
Background • At a recent meeting of NCERT general council which was attended by
MHRD officials, the discussion regarding the establishment of separate
schools for minorities and tribals was taken.
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Revamping Education for • A panel on education for minorities had in a report submitted to the
Minorities Ministry of Minority Affairs recently suggested the need to revamp
education for children belonging to the minority community.
• The report stated to open new schools that follow NCERT syllabus.
• In addition, no reservation will be provided for government
employees' children.
11. Bill on Mob Violence

• All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Lok Sabha
MP Asaduddin Owaisi sent notice of a private members' Bill to combat
incidents of mob lynchings.
Provisions of the Bill • The Bill enjoin penalties of a minimum of ten years imprisonment on
public servants for "acts of omission".
• The Bill criminalizes the act of mob violence as well as acts of omission
by public servants.
• Provisions such as the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of
mob violence, with judges for the same being appointed by a collegium
of the five senior-most judges of the High Court are in the Bill.
• The Special Courts shall also have the additional responsibility of
receiving complaints of mob violence, and has the responsibility of
setting up Special Investigation Teams (SIT) and appointing a public
prosecutor. The SIT and public prosecutor, besides reporting to the
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Special Court, shall also be under the supervision of the Supreme Court
(via the appointment of an Amicus Curiae).
• Punishment of up to life imprisonment for those found guilty of
engaging in mob violence, and special compensation and witness
protection are also included in the Bill.
• The most significant portion of the Bill is, however, the awarding of
penalties on public servants for failing to investigate properly due to
malafide intentions or wilful neglect of their duties.
Mob violence has been defined to include "any act where two or more
persons injure, harm, oppress, and threaten any person's enjoyment of a
right guaranteed under the Constitution of India or on the basis of their
identity."
12. RTE Amendment Bill Passed

• Both the houses of the Parliament unanimously passed the Right of
Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2017,
which aims to provide a two-year window to around 11 lakh private
and government teachers to get prescribed minimum qualifications
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for appointment.
• The Bill was being amended as the 2009 Act, which came into force
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on April 1, 2010, allows teachers without professional qualification to
get them by 2015. But it has not been followed.
• Therefore, the Bill gives them an opportunity to acquire professional
qualification by enrolling themselves in the Swayam platform, which
will be an online medium.
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• Those living in rural areas would be taught through Swayam Prabha

television channels in 32 languages, and they would have to buy a set
top box worth Rs 1300. For this the MoHRD has already signed
memorandum of undertanding with Doordarshan.
The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act or Right to Education Act (RTE), is an Act of the
Parliament of India enacted on 4 August 2009, which describes the modalities of the importance of free and
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compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 in India under Article 21a of the Indian Constitution.
India became one of 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the Act came into
force on 1 April 2010.
The Act makes education a fundamental right of every child between the ages of 6 and 14 and specifies minimum
norms in elementary schools. It requires all private schools to reserve 25% of seats to children (to be reimbursed
by the state as part of the public-private partnership plan). Kids are admitted in to private schools based on
economic status or caste based reservations. It also prohibits all unrecognised schools from practice, and
makes provisions for no donation or capitation fees and no interview of the child or parent for admission. The Act
also provides that no child shall be held back, expelled, or required to pass a board examination until
the completion of elementary education. There is also a provision for special training of school drop-
outs to bring them up to par with students of the same age.
13. Anti Racial Discrimination Provisions in IPC

• Home Ministry proposed to amend the law to insert two stricter
anti-racial discrimination provisions in the Indian Penal Code.
• Two provisions in the IPC, that is, Section 153A and Section 509A are
to be amended. Provisions are proposed to be inserted into the IPC
sections since this matter comes under the Concurrent List and centre
needs to obtain the opinion of the State Governments.
What are the Recommendations • The amendments were based on the recommendations of the
of the Panel? Bezbaruah Committee.
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14. Election of the President

• Ram Nath Kovind has been elected as 15th President of India.
Procedure of Election • The President is regarded as the Head of the State, and takes the
oath to ‘protect and defend the Constitution and law’ (Article 60 of
the Constitution). In order to elect a figure head who would embody
the higher ideals and values of the Constitution, the Constituent
Assembly decided upon an indirect method for the election of the
President.
• Art. 54 provides for indirect election of the President through
an Electoral College consisting of –
a) The elected member of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
b) The elected members of the legislative assembly of the States.
c) The members of the legislative assembly of the National Capital
Territory of Delhi and of the Union Territory of Puducherry.
Note: Following do not participate.
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• Nominated members of both the houses of the Parliament and State legislative assemblies.
• All the members of lagislative council.
•
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Under the system of proportional representation, the total weightage
of all MLA votes equals the total value of that of the MPs. However,
the weightage of the votes of the MLAs varies on the basis of the
population of their respective states. For example, the vote of an MLA
from Uttar Pradesh would be given higher weightage than the vote of
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an MLA from a less populous state like Sikkim.
• Under the single transferable vote system, every voter has one vote
and can mark preferences against contesting candidates. To win the
election, candidates need to secure a certain quota of votes.
Removal Under Article 61:
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• Impeachment of the President for the violation of the constitution.
• It’s a Quasi-Judicial process.
Anti-defection Law does not Accordingly, in the Election Commission’s opinion, the voting or not
Apply to Presidential Elections voting as per his/her own free will at the Presidential election will not
come within the ambit of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule to
the Constitution of India and the electors are at liberty to vote or not to
vote at the Presidential election as per their own free will and choice.
The ECI explained that while political parties are free to canvas or seek
votes of electors, or request them to refrain from voting, no whip can be
issued by the parties to their members to vote in a particular manner. Such
a direction, it said, would amount to exertion of undue influence within the
meaning of Section 171C of the Indian Penal Code.
It, further, clarified that the voting for the election of the President of
India is not compulsory, similar to the voting at elections to the House of
the People and State Legislatures. It relied on the definition of the ‘electoral
right’ of a voter as per Section 171A (b) of the Indian Penal Code, which
states it to mean “the right of a person to stand, or not to stand as, or to
withdraw from being, a candidate or to vote or refrain from voting at election”.
15. Office of Profit

• The Election Commission has recommended the disqualification of
20 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs from Delhi, citing that they held
offices of profit.
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Definition • According to Article 102 (1) (a), a person shall be disqualified as a
member of Parliament for holding any office of profit under the
government of India or the government of any state, “other than an
office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder”.
Article 191 (1) (a) has a similar provision for the members of state
assemblies.
• It evolved in England
• Office of profit also seeks to enforce the principle of separation of
power between the legislative, the judiciary and the executive – a
basic feature of the Constitution. It also keeps the members away from
any temptations from the executives.
Appointment of Parliamentary • A Parliament Secretary often holds the rank of Minister of State
Secretaries in Delhi Resurfaced and has the same entitlements and is assigned to a government
the Issue department.
• Parliamentary secretaries are appointed by Chief Minister and are
deemed to be Ministers only for the purpose of ensuring better co-
ordination between the executive and legislature. These secretaries by
virtue of a Statute are involved with the sole purpose of planning and
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co-ordination of legislative and other official business in the state.
• But it is against the constitutional principles on the following grounds:
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a) Article 102 and 191 of the Constitution says that a person shall be
disqualified for being chosen and for being a member of the House
if he holds any office of profit under Government of India or any
state government. The essence of this disqualification is that there
should be no conflict between the duties and interests of an elected
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member.
b) Article 164(1A) specifies that the number of ministers including
the Chief Minister has to be within 15% of the total number of
members of the Assembly (10% in the case of Delhi, which is not
a ‘full’ state). Over the last few years, courts across the country
have struck down the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries
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for violating the Constitution.

• State is under an obligation to act in accordance with the provisions of
Constitution of India and is not free to act upon its whims and fancies.
• A certain office will qualify to be an office of profit if-
a) Government makes the appointment.
b) Government has the right to dismiss the office bearer at its will.
c) Government pays the remuneration.
d) Government exercises control over the functions of the office
holder.
e) Office yields personal gains to the holder.
• Though these five tenets need not co-exist conjointly for determining
whether an office is an office of profit under the government, however
Supreme Court has over-stressed on third and fifth point.
Second ARC on • Although the Constitution declares that an MP shall be disqualified
“Office of Profit” if he holds an Office of Profit, it does not define the term. It however
allows certain offices to be exempted through legislation. Therefore,
under the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, a large
number of posts have been exempted from disqualification. The law
should clearly define Office of Profit based on 3 principles:
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a) Exempt all offices in purely advisory bodies.
b) Include all offices which involve executive decision making and
control of public funds.
c) If by virtue of being a Minister, is also a member of an organisation
such as the Planning Commission which is vital for day to day
functioning of the government, it shall not be considered as office
of profit.
16. Types of CAG Audit

CAG’s (DPC) Act, 1971 As per the provisions of the constitution, the CAG’s (DPC) (Duties, Powers
and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 was enacted. As per the various
provisions, the duties of the CAG include the audit of:
• Receipts and expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India and of
the State and Union Territory having legislative assembly.
• Trading, manufacturing, profit and loss accounts and balance sheets.
and other subsidiary accounts kept in any Government department.
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• Accounts of stores and stock kept in Government offices or departments.
• Government companies as per the provisions of the Companies Act,
•
1956.
OR
Corporations established by or under laws made by Parliament in
accordance with the provisions of the respective legislation.
Authorities and bodies substantially financed from the Consolidated
Funds of the Union and State Governments.
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• Anybody or authority even though not substantially financed from
the Consolidated Fund, the audit of which may be entrusted to the
C&AG.
• Grants and loans given by Government to bodies and authorities for
specific purposes.
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• Entrusted audits, e.g. those of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban

Local Bodies under Technical Guidance & Support (TGS).
Types of CAG Audit • Compliance Audit: Compliance audit is sometimes called transaction
audit in which some selected transactions of an entity for a particular
financial year are chosen for audit scrutiny. He checks whether a
transaction:
1. Conforms to sanction/provision of funds.
2. Adheres to all rules and regulations.
3. Adheres to principles of financial propriety, which go beyond
mere observation of rules.
• Financial Attest Audit: Financial statements are prepared by
undertakings run by various departments, statutory corporations,
government companies and other autonomous bodies and authorities.
CAG certify how far the accounts are “true and fair”, i.e., whether the
financial statements (accounts) are properly prepared, complete in all
respects and are presented with adequate disclosures. In some cases,
its financial audit is a “supplementary audit” with the primary auditor
usually being a chartered accountant. It also audit and certify the annual
accounts of the Central and State governments.
• Performance Audit: Performance audits seek to establish at what cost
and to what degree the policies, programmes and projects are working.
Performance audit, apart from asking whether things are being done
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in the right way, goes a step further and analyses whether the right
things are being done.
• Information Technology Audits: IT Auditors evaluate the reliability
of computer generated data supporting financial statements and analyse
specific programs and their outcomes. In addition, IT Auditors examine
the adequacy of controls in information systems and related operations
to ensure system effectiveness. IT Audit is the process of collecting
and evaluating evidence to determine whether a computer system has
been designed to maintain data integrity, safeguard assets, allows
organisational goals to be achieved effectively, and uses resources
efficiently.
• Environment Audit: According to World Bank, environment audit is
a methodical examination of environmental information about an
organization, a facility or a site, to verify whether, or to what extent,
they conform to specified audit criteria. The criteria may be based on
local, national or global environmental standards. Thus, it is a
systematic process of obtaining and evaluating information about
environmental aspects.
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17. Committee of Governor’s Report
• The Committee of Governors, constituted during the 48th Conference
OR
of Governors submitted its report ‘Rajyapal –Vikas Ke Rajdoot:
Catalytic Role of Governors as Agents for Change in Society’.
• This Committee was constituted to examine the role of Governors in
taking forward the developmental process. In its report, it describes
an action-outcome framework that can be adopted by Raj Bhavans in
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their role as change agents and lists out potential priorities.

• The report emphasizes identifying priority areas along with activities
that can help realise the objectives of Sarv Shrest Bharat. It suggests
Governors play a mentoring role in overall implementation of
developmental schemes in their states.
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• The report deals with best practices that offices of governors have
been adopting, issues and an action-outcome framework to deal with
them.
18. Reforms in Parliamentary Functioning

Context Parliament sessions are usually held thrice a year.
Who Convenes Parliament? Parliament must be convened by the President at least once in every six
months. Since the President acts on the advice of the central government,
the duration of the session is decided by the government.
How does Parliament hold the • One of the forums of holding the government accountable for its actions
Government Accountable? is the Question Hour.
However, time gets lost due to disruptions which reduce the number of
questions that may be answered orally.
Further, there is no mechanism currently for answering questions which
require inter-ministerial expertise or relate to broader government
policy.
• MPs may raise issues of public importance in Parliament, and examine
the government's response to problems being faced by citizens
through: (i) a debate, which entails a reply by the concerned minister,
or (ii) a motion which entails a vote.
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19. Delimitation
• Delimitation means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of
territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative
body.
Delimitation Commission • Article 82 of the Constitution has provision that the Parliament by
law enacts a Delimitation Act after every census. After coming into
force and commencement of the Act, the Central Government
constitutes a Delimitation Commission.
• Delimitation Commission is a statutory body and not a constitutional
body established by Central government. The commission's orders
have force of law and its decision cannot be challenged in any court.
• Four Delimitation Commission till now: 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002.
• There is a gap after 1973 in setting delimitation commission as 42nd
Constitutional Amendment Act had Frozen delitimation of Lok Sabha
and State legislative assembly till 2000.
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• The 84th Amendment Act of 2001 amended Art 82 and provided for
delimitation of constituencies on the basis of 1991 census figures.
Commensurate to this delimitation Act, 2002 was eracted. Later on,
Important facts •
OR
87th Amendment was made in 2003 which amended article 82 and it
provided delimitation on the basis of 2001 census figure.
Delimitation in J&K is done under state Constitution.
• Under 31st Amendment Act, delimitation exercise doesn't apply to
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States and Union Territories having population less than 6 million.
• Allocation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the Lok Sabha
are made on the basis of proportion of Scheduled Castes and Tribes
in the State concerned to that of the total population, vide provision
contained in Article 330 of the Constitution of India read with Section
3 of the R. P. Act, 1950.
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• Delimitation under 2002 Act, has increased Scheduled Caste (78 to

84) and Scheduled Tribe Constituencies(38 to 42).
Article 81 Composition of the House of the People
Article 170 Composition of the Legislative Assemblies
Article 330 Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People
Article 332 Reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes
20. Concept of Whip

• A whip is the instruction issued (not always) by political parties to
vote according to the party line in a legislature. Violation of the party
whip could lead to expulsion under the Anti-Defection Act.
Whip in India • Whip is an official appointed to maintain discipline among, secure
attendance of, and give necessary information to, members of his party.
The other functions are as follows:
1. Serve as channel of communication between party and its
members.
2. Gauge the opinion of the members and communicate it to party
leaders.
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• A whip is of three kinds:
1. A one-line whip is non-binding, and merely serves to inform the
members of the vote.
2. A two-line whip seeks attendance in the legislature during the
vote.
3. A three-line whip is a clear-cut directive, to be present in the
legislature during the vote and cast vote according to the party
line. Violation of the whip could lead to the member's expulsion
from the House.
In India, under the anti-defection law, a three-line whip can be violated
only by more than one-third of a party's strength in the legislature.
21. Motion of Thanks

What is Motion of Thanks? • Motion of Thanks is a motion in Indian Parliament which follows the
address of the President of India to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha
and Rajya Sabha at the commencement of first session of a new
Lok Sabha and first session of every year.
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Contents of the Address • The President highlights legislative and policy activities of the
government, achievements of the previous year and broad agenda of
the upcoming year.
OR
• This address is followed by a Motion of Thanks, which is moved in
each house by an MP of the ruling party.
• At the end of these discussions, the Prime Minister gives replies to the
points or questions raised.
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• After the reply of the PM is over, the Members of Parliament vote on

this motion of thanks. This motion must be passed in both of the
houses. A failure to get motion of thanks passed (which may happen
rarely) amounts to defeat of government and leads to collapse of
government.
• This is why, the Motion of Thanks is deemed to be a no-confidence
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motion. However, before such voting, some members may also move
amendment to the address. Such amendments may be: for emphasising
or adding issues addressed by the President for including some issues
or highlight some issues which did not find mention in the speech.
There have already been three instances so far.
22. Privileges to MPs

Introduction • To enable parliament to work effectively and efficiently and to discharge
its functions without any kind of interference, the privileges are
provided to each house collectively and to its members independently.
Privilege within Parliament • Privilege refers to the "special right, advantage or benefit conferred or
favour granted to one person as against another to do certain acts".
Hence, it can be inferred that special rights and advantages are enjoyed
by the members of parliament over the citizen of India.
• Art. 105 and Art. 194 of the constitution of India deals with the
power, privileges and immunities of parliament and its members
and of the state legislature and their members respectively. Privileges
that are enjoyed by members individually in the parliament are:
a) Freedom of Speech
• However, a member's freedom of speech should be in conformity
to the rules framed by the House to regulate its internal procedure.
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• Furthermore, the privilege of freedom of speech does not mean an
unrestricted license of speech. For example, our Constitution forbids
discussion in Parliament on the conduct of judges except on motion
for their removal.
b) Freedom from Arrest
• The members of Parliament also enjoy freedom from arrest. From this
freedom it is understood that no such member shall be arrested in a
civil case -
1. During the 40 days before and after a parliamentary session,
2. For 40 days following the dissolution of Parliament, and
3. From the moment of the execution of the return of the writ of election
by the returning officer.
• It also means that no member can be arrested within the precincts of
the Parliament without the permission of the House to which s/he
belongs.
• However, the privilege of freedom from arrest extends only to civil
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matters.
• A member can be arrested outside the four walls of the House on
c)
OR
criminal cases under the Preventive Detention, ESMA, NSA, POTA
or any other such Act.
Freedom of attendance as witnesses
• The exemption of MPs from compelled attendance at court is based
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on the principle that attendance of a Member in the House takes
precedence over other obligations, and that the House has the
paramount right and prior claim to the attendance and service of its
Members.
Privileges to MPs outside There are several special privileges ranging from substantive to the frivolous
Parliament which are enjoyed by MPs:
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a) Food Subsidy
b) Quota in School Admissions
c) Quota in Railway Tickets
d) Preference in Medical Facilities
e) Toll exemption on national highways
f) No Security frisking
g) Seat Upgrades in Air Travel
h) Live in heritage buildings
23. Ordinance
Definition • Article 123 of the Constitution grants the President certain law making
powers to promulgate Ordinances when either of the two Houses of
Parliament is not in session and hence it is not possible to enact laws
in the Parliament.
• An ordinance is only a temporary law. This power is not a new to
the Indian Constitution. Articles 42 and 43 of the Government of
India Act, 1935, gave the same power to the Governor General.
Recent Issue • The promulgation of ordinances has risen in the last few years. The
reason for rise in the promulgation of ordinances in India is the frequent
disruption of Parliament.
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Comparison between Regular • An Ordinance made by the President is not an executive, but a
Legislation and an Ordinance legislative act. An Ordinance, cannot be promulgated with respect
to a subject which is beyond the legislative competence of Parliament.
• Like money bills and finance bills, there can be Ordinance on fiscal
matters as well.
• Like an Act of Parliament, an Ordinance is subject to judicial review,
on grounds of unconstitutionality.
• The life of an Ordinance can in no case extend beyond six weeks
from the date of reassembly of Parliament. That way the maximum
life of an ordinance can be 6 months and 6 weeks. An Ordinance
may be withdrawn by the President at any time before it ceases to
have effect.
• An Ordinance is equally subject to the limitations and constraints
which are put upon the Parliament by the Constitution, such as,
abridgement of Fundamental Rights.
The President may issue an Ordinance to enforce the provisions of a Bill
introduced in, and pending before a House; or to enforce the provisions of
a Bill already passed by one House but not yet passed by the other House.
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Ordinance can also be on a completely new matter to be replaced
subsequently by a Bill to be brought before the House or for a purpose not
OR
requiring permanent legislation.
Supreme Court Judgment • Further, the question of whether any rights, liabilities, obligations would
survive an ordinance which had ceased to exist, would have to be
tested against public interest and constitutional necessity.
• Also the satisfaction of the President would not be immune from
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judicial review and the court in this exercise would not have to
determine the sufficiency or adequacy of the material.
24. Money Bill

Definition Under Article 110(1) of the Constitution, a Bill is deemed to be a Money
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Bill if it contains only provisions dealing with all or any of the following
matters:
a) The imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any
tax;
b) Regulation of borrowing by the government;
c) Custody of the Consolidated Fund or Contingency Fund of India, and
payments into or withdrawals from these Funds;
d) Appropriation of money out of the Consolidated Fund of India;
e) Declaring of any expenditure to be expenditure charged on the
Consolidated Fund of India or the increasing of the amount of any
such expenditure;
f) Receipt of money on account of the Consolidated Fund of India or the
public account of India or the custody or issue of such money or the
audit of the accounts of the Union or of a State; or
g) Any matter incidental to any of the matters specified in sub-clauses
(a) to (f).
But a Bill shall not be deemed to be a Money Bill by reason only that it
provides for the imposition of fines or other pecuniary penalties, or for the
demand or payment of fees for licences or fees for services rendered, or by
reason that it provides for the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration
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or regulation of any tax by any local authority or body for local
purposes.
Article 110 (3) lays down that "if any question arises whether a Bill is a
Money Bill or not, the decision of the Speaker of the House of the People
thereon shall be final". This means that once the Speaker has certified a
Bill as a Money Bill, its nature cannot be questioned in a court of law, in
the Houses of Parliament, or even by the President.
Procedure • A Money Bill may only be introduced in Lok Sabha, on the
recommendation of the President. It must be passed in Lok Sabha by
a simple majority of all members present and voting. Following this,
it may be sent to the Rajya Sabha for its recommendations, which
Lok Sabha may reject if it chooses to. If such recommendations are
not given within 14 days, it will deemed to be passed by Parliament.
• The Speaker certifies a Bill as a Money Bill, and the Speaker's decision
is final. Also, the Constitution states that parliamentary proceedings
as well as officers responsible for the conduct of business (such as the
Speaker) may not be questioned by any Court.
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Aadhaar Act Issue • Recently, the Aadhaar Bill was passed as Money Bills, though they
may not have met the strict criteria laid out in the Constitution.
•
OR
The government has argued that the primary objective of the Aadhaar
Bill was to create a system for providing subsidies, and as the provisions
relate to government expenditure the Bill can be termed as a Money
Bill.
• The counter argument is that the Aadhaar Bill has several other
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provisions, including permitting use of the system for other purposes,
so it does not meet the requirement of having "only" the six provisions.
25. Ethics Committee in Parliament

To help maintain decorum in Parliament, both its houses have an Ethics
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Committee.
The panel in Rajya Sabha was constituted on 4 March 1997 and the one in
Lok Sabha on 16 May 2000. Lok Sabha has a new permanent Standing
Committee on Ethics which came into force on 12th August, 2015. Until
now, the ethics committee in Lok Sabha has been an ad hoc one.
They are empowered to look into complaints of unethical conduct by MPs
and recommend action.
They are also free to examine suo motu "any matter related to ethics".
Ethics committees function to uphold the standards of the Parliament and
thus its functions are:
• Formulate a Code of Conduct for members and suggest amendments
to it from time to time.
• To oversee the moral and ethical conduct of the Members.
• To examine the cases referred to it with reference to ethical and other
misconduct of the Members.
26. Parliamentary Committees

• The parliamentary committees are mainly of two types
1. Standing Committees :The Standing Committees are constituted
every year or frequently and they work on continuous basis.
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2. Ad Hoc Committees: Ad hoc committees are temporary and
created for specific task. Once that task is completed, the ad hoc
committees cease to exist.
As per the "Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok
Sabha", there are 19 Standing Parliamentary Committees and 24
Departmentally Related Standing Committees. Out of the 19 Standing
Parliamentary Committees, three are Financial Committees, viz. Committee
or Public Accounts, Committee on Estimates and Committee on Public
Undertakings. Some committees have members only from Lok Sabha
while some have members from both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.
Some of the important parliamentary committees are:
1. Estimates Committee
a) The Committee has 30 members, who are elected in accordance
with the system of proportional representation from among the
members of Lok Sabha for a period of one year.
b) The Chairman is nominated by the Speaker provided if the
Deputy Speaker is the member of the Committee; he
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automatically assumes the power of the Chairman. No minister
can be a member of the Committee.
OR
c) The Estimates Committee is charged with the responsibility of
detailed examination of budget estimates.
2. Public Accounts Committee
a) The Public Accounts Committee is essentially a committee of the
Lok Sabha. The strength of the committee is 22 of which 15 are
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elected from the Lok Sabha and the rest are nominated from
the Rajya Sabha.
b) The Speaker nominates the Chairman, who conventionally is
the Leader of Opposition in the Lower House.
c) The major function of the Public Account Committee is to
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scrutinize the appropriation account of the Government of India

and other accounts laid before the House and the report of the
Auditor General of India and also to satisfy itself that money is
spent appropriately.
d) It is also responsible for commenting on the ways of the
extravagance in the spending of the public funds.
3. Committee on Public Undertakings
a) The committee constituted in 1964 consists of 15 members of
Lok Sabha and 7 members of the Rajya Sabha.
b) The major function of the committee is to examine the reports
and accounts of public undertakings and suggest economic
improvement in organization and financial management, etc.
4. Committee on Privileges: The Speaker nominates the members of
this committee. The strength is of 15 members. It is empowered to
take stock of the breach of privileges and determination of breach of
privileges.
5. Business Advisory Committee: The committee is for the purpose of
regulating the time-table of the working of the House. There are 15
members nominated by the Speaker, who himself is the Chairman
of this committee.
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6. Committee on Welfare of SC and ST: 30 members drawn from both
Houses serve on this Committee which considers all matters relating
to SC/ST, coming under the purview of the Union Government and
ensures whether constitutional safeguards in respect of these classes
are properly implemented.
7. Committee on Private Members Bills and Resolutions: Consisting
of 15 members nominated by the speaker, the Committee classifies
and allocates times to bills introduced by private members. The Deputy
Speaker is invariably its member.
8. Departmental Standing Committees
a) Parliament decide to constitute committees to consider the demand
for grants of various ministries.
b) The committees consist of 23 members from both Lok Sabha and
Rajya Sabha.
c) But Rajya Sabha Members are denied a vote in case a particular
grant calls for such a procedure.
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9. Ad-hoc Committees - These Committees are appointed as need arises
and they cease to exist as soon as they complete the task assigned to
them. The usual ad-hoc committees are select/joint committees on bills,
Context •
OR
appointed to consider and report on particular bills.
27. Disqualification of Rajya Sabha Members

JD(U) MPs Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar were disqualified from the
Rajya Sabha. The JD(U) had sought their disqualification on the
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grounds that they had attended a rally of opposition parties in Patna in
violation of its direction.
• Sharad Yadav had joined hands with the opposition after JD(U)
president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kuamar dumped the Grand
Alliance in Bihar and tied up with the BJP. Yadav was elected to the
House last year and his term was scheduled to end in 2022. Anwar's
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term was to expire early next year.

• The disqualification has been done under Anti-Defection Act.
About Anti-defection Act The 52nd Amendment of the Constitution added the Tenth Schedule was
inserted in the Constitution in 1985. It lays down the process by which
legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection by the Presiding
Officer of a legislature based on a petition by any other member of the
House.
The grounds for disqualification under the Anti-Defection Law's Articles
102 (2) and 191 (2) are:
a) If an elected member voluntarily gives up his membership of a political
party.
b) An independent MP/ MLA cannot join a political party after the
election.
c) An MP/ MLA who is nominated (to the Rajya Sabha or upper houses
in state legislatures) can only join a party within 6 months of his election.
Disqualification on ground of defection not to apply in case of split if
such group consist of not less than one-third of the members of such
legislature party.
Disqualification on ground of defection not to apply in case of merger:
A member of a House shall not be disqualified where his original political
party merges with another political party. For the purposes, the merger of
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the original political party of a member of a House shall be deemed to
have taken place if, and only if, not less than two-thirds of the members
of the legislature party concerned have agreed to such merger.
Exemption- Notwithstanding anything contained in this Schedule, a person
who has been elected to the office of the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker of
the House of the People or the Deputy Chairman of the Council of States
or the Chairman or the Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council of a
State or the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of
a State, shall not be disqualified under this Schedule.
Decision on questions as to disqualification on ground of defection shall
be referred for the decision of the Chairman or, as the case may be, the
Speaker of such House and his decision shall be final.
Bar of jurisdiction of courts- The law initially stated that the decision of
the Presiding Officer is not subject to judicial review. This condition was
struck down by the Supreme Court in 1992, thereby allowing appeals against
the Presiding Officer's decision in the High Court and Supreme Court.
However, it held that there may not be any judicial intervention until the
Presiding Officer gives his order.
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28. Private Member Bill
• A Member of Parliament, other than a Minister (i.e., not a member
OR
of the Government) is known as a Private Member.
• In Rajya Sabha two and half hours i.e., from 2.30 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.
on every alternate Friday are generally allotted for transaction of
Private Members' Legislative Business.
Sr. No. Public Bill Private Bill
SC
1. Minister introduces it in the Parliament. Any member of Parliament other than a minister
can introduce it.
2. Policies of the government (ruling party) Stand of opposition party on public matter is reflected
are reflected by this bill. by it.
3. It has greater chance to be approved by It has lesser chance to be approved by the Parliament.
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the Parliament.
4. If rejected by the House leads to the If rejected it has no implication on the parliamentary
expression of want of parliamentary confidence in the government or its resignation.
confidence in the government and may
lead to its resignation.
5. Its introduction in the House requires Its introduction in the House requires one month’s
seven days notice. notice.
6. The concerned department in consultation Responsibility of drafting it is of the member
with the law department draft the bill. concerned.
Parliamentary terms
a) PARLIAMENTARY SESSIONS: Adjournment, Prorogation, Dissolution
A session of Indian Parliament is the time period during which a House meets almost every day continuously to
transact business. There are usually three sessions in a year. They are the Budget Session (February to May); the
Monsoon Session (July to September); and the Winter Session (November to December). A session contains
many meetings. Each meeting has two sittings - morning sitting from 11 am to 1 pm and post-lunch sitting from 2 pm
to 6 pm.
A sitting of Parliament can be terminated by adjournment, adjournment sine die, prorogation or
dissolution. Technically, a session of Indian Parliament is the period between the first sitting of a House and its
prorogation or dissolution. The period between the prorogation of a House and its reassembly in a new session is
called 'recess'.
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• Summoning: Summoning is the process of calling all members of the Parliament to meet. It is the duty of
Indian President to summon each House of the Parliament from time to time. The maximum gap between two
sessions of Parliament cannot be more than six months.
• Adjournment: An adjournment suspends the work in a sitting for a specified time, which may be hours, days
or weeks. In this case, the time of reassembly is specified. An adjournment only terminates a sitting and not
a session of the House. The power of adjournment lies with the presiding officer of the House.
• Adjournment Sine Die: Adjournment sine die means terminating a sitting of Parliament for an indefinite
period. In other words, when the House is adjourned without naming a day for reassembly, it is called
adjournment sine die. The power of adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer of the House.
• Prorogation: Prorogation means the termination of a session of the House by an order made by the
President under Article 85(2)(a) of the Constitution. Prorogation terminates both the sitting and session of
the House. Usually, within a few days after the House is adjourned sine die by the presiding officer, the
President issues a notification for the prorogation of the session. However, the President can also prorogue
the House while in session.
Note: All pending notices (other than those for introducing Bills) lapse on prorogation and fresh notices
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have to be given for the next session.
OR
• Dissolution: A dissolution ends the very life of the existing House, and a new House is constituted after
general elections are held. Rajya Sabha, being a permanent House, is not subject to dissolution.
The dissolution of the Lok Sabha may take place in either of two ways:
b. Automatic dissolution: On the expiry of its tenure - five years or the terms as extended during a national
emergency.
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c. Order of President: If President is authorized by CoM, he can dissolve Lok Sabha, even before the end of
the term.
He may also dissolve Lok Sabha if CoM loses confidence and no party is able to form the government. Once the
Lok Sabha is dissolved before the completion of its normal tenure, the dissolution is irrevocable.
Note: When the Lok Sabha is dissolved, all business including bills, motions, resolutions, notices, petitions and so
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on pending before it or its committees lapse.
• Adjournment - terminates a sitting.
• Prorogation - terminates a session.
• Dissolution - terminates the life of a House.
b) Trust Vote
• A trust vote is a motion through which the government of the day seeks to know whether it still have the
confidence of parliament.
• A trust vote is sought either during the first session of a newly-elected Lok Sabha if it is not clear whether a
party or a grouping of parties command a majority in the house, or at any time during the five-year tenure of
the house if it becomes apparent that the government of the day has lost its majority.
c) Floor Test
• In order to protect the federal structure and prevent misuse of power by the Centre, the Supreme Court ruled
that the constitutional machinery should be tested on the floor of the Legislative Assembly of the state by
votes.
• A chief minister appointed by the governor can be asked to prove his majority in case of doubt. In situations
where the majority can be questioned (for instance, when there is a coalition government), the governor may
ask the chief minister to prove his/majority in the House. In that case, the chief minister has to move a vote of
confidence and win a majority among those present and voting.
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d) Composite Floor Test

• If there is more than one person staking claim to form the government and the majority is not clear the
governor may call for a special session to see who has the majority. Some legislators may be absent or
choose not to vote.
• The majority is then counted based on those present and voting. This can be done through a voice vote,
where the legislators respond orally, or through a division vote.
• In case of a division vote, voting can be done using electronic gadgets, slips or in a ballot box. The person
who has the majority will be allowed to form the government. In case there is a tie, the speaker can cast his
vote.
e) Constitutional Status of Water
• The Union Ministry of Water Resources has for long been arguing for a shift of water to the Concurrent List
of the Constitution and not in the state list as is the case now. Looking into ground water scenario, Parliamentary
Panel suggested that the centre should initiate earnest efforts to build national consensus to bring water in
Concurrent List so that a comprehensive plan can be prepared for water conservation.
• The Ashok Chawla committee, which was primarily concerned with the question of rationalising the allocation
of natural resources with a view to reducing the scope for corruption, have also recommended inter alia the
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shifting of water to the Concurrent List.
• The constitutional provisions in respect of allocation of responsibilities between the State and Centre fall into
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three categories: The Union List (List-I), the State List (List-II) and the Concurrent List (List-III). Article
246 of the Constitution deals with subject matter of laws to be made by the Parliament and by Legislature of
the States. As most of the rivers in the country are inter-State, the regulation and development of waters of
these rivers, is a source of inter-State differences and disputes.
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• Water figures in three provisions
1. Entry 17 in the State List - The first provision makes water a state subject.
2. Entry 56 in the Union List - Entry 56 in the Union List allows regulation and development of water under
the control of the Union declared by parliament to be expedient in the public interest.
3. Article 262 - Article 262 explicitly grants parliament the right to legislate over the matters in Entry 56, and
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also gives it primacy over the Supreme Court.
29. NJAC Vs. COLLEGIUM

About Collegium System • The Supreme Court collegium is a body comprising the country’s five
senior-most judges, including the Chief Justice of India, which selects
judges for appointments to high courts and the Supreme Court.
• The collegiums system of appointment of judges was born through
Supreme Court judgment in the Three Judges Case.
• According to First Judges case, Chief Justice of India does not have
primacy over executive in the matter of appointment of judges of
Supreme Court and high courts.
• Second Judges case decision made the judiciary the ‘de facto’
appointing authority of themselves curtailing the power of council of
ministers under Article 74(1).
• In Third Judges case, nine judge Bench again confirmed that the
opinion of the collegiums of judges have primacy in appointing and
transfer of judges of higher judiciary. In light of this decision detailed
Memorandum of Procedure was prepared, which took the form of
present collegiums system.
Recent Directive To bring transparency in the system, Supreme Court’s website has now
added a new section titled “Collegium Resolutions” under the case
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information section. The section makes the resolutions and
recommendations of the collegium to the Centre accessible to the public.
About NJAC (Rejected by SC and held ‘unconstitutional and and void’)
• National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) was the proposed body to be responsible for the
appointment and transfer of judges to the higher judiciary in India.
• The Commission has been established by amending the Constitution of India through the 99th constitution
amendment vide the Constitution (99th Amendment) Act, 2014.
• The NJAC replaced the collegium system for the appointment of judges as mandated in the existing pre-
amended constitution by a new system.
• Current status- According to the SC, it is difficult to hold that the wisdom of appointment of judges can be
shared with the political-executive. In India, the organic development of civil society, has not as yet sufficiently
evolved. The expectation from the judiciary, to safeguard the rights of the citizens of this country, can only be
ensured, by keeping it absolutely insulated and independent, from the other organs of governance.
• SC held that the collegium system, as it existed before the NJAC, would again become operative.
NJAC Composition
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As per the amended provisions of the constitution, the Commission will consist of the following persons:
• Chief Justice of India (Chairperson, ex-officio)
• The Union Minister of Law and Justice, ex-officio
OR
• 2 other senior judges of the Supreme Court next to the Chief Justice of India - ex officio
• 2 eminent persons (to be nominated by a committee consisting of the Chief Justice of India, Prime Minister of
India and the Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha or where there is no such Leader of Opposition, then,
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the Leader of single largest Opposition Party in Lok Sabha), provided that of the two eminent persons, one
person would be from the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes or OBC or minority communities or
a woman. The eminent persons shall be nominated for a period of three years and shall not be eligible for re-
nomination.
30. National Court of Appeal

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Context • The Supreme Court has admitted a petition for setting up a National
Court of Appeal with regional benches to act as the final courts of
justice for criminal and civil cases (dealing with appeals from the
decisions of the High Courts and tribunals) with the Supreme Court
exclusively hearing constitutional and public law cases.
Need for a National • High case pendency: Court of appeal will debarr the apex court and
Court of Appeal it can concentrate on constitutional laws and public laws.
• Enhanced access to justice: Location of SC in Delhi which discourages
people from far of places in filing cases (both time and cost of traveling,
cost of hiring a SC advocate), thus the fundamental principle of equality
and access to justice get denied. Majority of cases in SC are appeals
from Delhi HC prove this point.
Article 136
• Article 136: The Supreme Court can grant special leave for appeal from any court or tribunal/ viz.
from any subordinate court below the High Court, even without following the usual procedure
of filing appeal in the High Court or even where the law applicable to the dispute does not make
provision for such an appeal. This helps in access top justice for all.
• For bringing the NCA into existence, several provisions of the Constitution related to independence of Judiciary,
hierarchy of Courts, powers of Supreme Court etc. will have to be amended. Moreover, Article 136 of the
Constitution which is a part of the basic structure of the constitution will be significantly diluted.
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31. INTER-STATE WATER DISPUTE REDRESSAL MECHANISM

Article 262 • Article 262 of the Constitution provides for adjudication of disputes
relating to waters of inter-state rivers or river valleys wherein it states
that the Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any
dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control
of the waters of, or in, any inter-state river or river valley.
• The inter-state river water disputes are governed by the Inter-State
Water Disputes Act, 1956.
• As per the current provisions of the 1956 Act, a tribunal can be formed
after a state government approaches Union Government with such
request and the Centre is convinced of the need to form the tribunal.
• This Act was further amended in 2002 to include the major
recommendations of ‘The Sarkaria Commission’. The amendments
mandated a one year time frame to setup the water disputes tribunal
and also a 3 year time frame to give a decision.
Tribunals in news are discussed as follows:
a) Mahadayi River Water Dispute Tribunal
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• The Mahadayi water-sharing dispute has the states of Goa,
Maharashtra and Karnataka vying for water from the Mahadayi
OR
or Mandovi river, which flows through the three states.
• The water sharing issue reached a flash point when Karnataka
decided to implement a long pending drinking water project by
building a canal across two tributaries of the Mahadayi – Kalasa
and Banduri.
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• The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal was set up in 2010.

Mahadayi River
• It is a west flowing river in the Western Ghats and falls in Arabian sea
• It originates in Karnataka and then flows into Goa
• It is called Mandovi in Goa
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b) Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal

• The Cauvery dispute started in the year 1892, between the Madras
Presidency (under the British Raj) and the Princely state of Mysore
when they had to come to terms with dividing the river water
between the two states.
• The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) was constituted
by the Government of India on 2nd June 1990 to adjudicate the
water dispute regarding inter-state river Cauvery and the river
valley between the two states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
• After the tribunal gave its award in 2007, both the state
governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu moved to the apex
court via a special leave petition (SLP), which was admitted by
the apex court, and the tribunal was put to the backburner.
• After more than two decades of its formation, the tribunal — that
gave its final verdict in 2007 — remains a motionless body.
Cauvery River
• The 765-km-long river cuts across two Indian states, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
• It originates at Talacauvery in Kodagu district in Karnataka. While it flows mainly through Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu, a lot of its basin area is covered by Kerala and the Karaikal area of Puducherry.
• Cauvery is designated as the ‘Dakshina Ganga’ or ‘the Ganga of the South’.
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c) Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal II Verdict
• The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II recently passed a decision
not to re-look into the allocation of water among the four riparian
States. Water Resources Ministry welcomed the tribunal’s decision
rejecting the Telangana government’s plea seeking reallocation
of the Krishna river waters.
• The KWDT-II said that it would distribute the water allocated to
undivided Andhra Pradesh among Telangana and residuary
Andhra Pradesh and not re-look into the allocation among the
other riparian States afresh. The tribunal’s decision is being seen
as a major setback for Telangana.
KWDT • Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT) is a tribunal set up by the
government of India in 1969 under the Interstate River Water Disputes
Act of 1956 to resolve the disputes between the states of Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh over sharing of
Krishna river water.
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Krishna River
• Krishna river rises at Mahabaleshwar in Satara, district of Maharashtra. It flows through Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh and Karnataka.
• Vijayawada is the largest city on the River Krishna.
OR
• Tributaries of Krishna - Major Tributaries of Krishna River are as follows:
*Left: Bhima, Dindi, Peddavagu, Halia, Musi, Paleru, and Munneru
*Right: Venna, Koyna, Panchganga, Dudhganga, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, and Tungabhadra
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d) Mahanadi Dispute
• Odisha has sought an injunction from the Supreme Court against
Chhattisgarh’s “unilateral” constructions on the Mahanadi river.
The suit was filed under Article 131 of the Constitution. The
injunction sought was against the continuation of construction of
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ongoing projects and future projects in the upper catchment of

the river. Odisha claim that the “illegal actions” of the Chhattisgarh
government in “unilaterally planning and constructing projects
and barrages” would spell socio-economic and ecological hazard
to the state and its inhabitants.
Mahanadi River
• The Mahanadi basin extends over states of Chhattisgarh and Odisha and comparatively smaller portions of
Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, draining an area of 1.4 lakh Sq.km.
• The Mahanadi is one of the major rivers of the peninsular rivers, and in water potential and flood producing
capacity, it ranks second to the Godavari.
• The major tributaries of Mahanadi are Seonath, Jonk, Hasdo, Mand, Ib, Ong, Tel etc.
Single Tribunal for • As of now, there are multiple tribunals that more often end up delaying
Inter-State Water Dispute delaying the process of dispute resolution.
• Union Water Resources Ministry introduced the Inter-State River
Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017 in the Lok Sabha and called
it a “revolutionary step”.
• The Bill, proposes to streamline the adjudication of inter-state river water
disputes and make the present legal and institutional architecture robust.
• The Bill bats for a single standing tribunal, which will be headed by a
chairperson with a five-year term.
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List of Existing Water Dispute Tribunals
No Name of Tribuna States concerned
1. Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh
& Odisha
2. Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal -I Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka,
3. Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra
4. Ravi & Beas Water Tribunal Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan
5. Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry
6. Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal -II Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra
7. Vansadhara Water Disputes Tribunal Andhra Pradesh &Odisha
8. Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra
32. Initiatives to Enhance Judicial System

a) Middle Income Group Legal aid scheme
• The Supreme Court of India has introduced the Middle Income
Group Scheme. It is a self supporting scheme which provides
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legal services to the middle income group citizens, i.e. citizens
whose gross income is not exceeding Rs.60,000 per month or Rs.
OR
7,50,000 per annum.
• As per the Supreme Court rules, it is only through advocates on
record cases can be filed before it.
• A sum of Rs.500/- shall be payable to the Supreme Court Middle
Income Group Legal Aid Society (SCMIGLAS) as service charges.
SC
The applicant shall have to deposit the fee indicated by the

Secretary, which will be in accordance with the schedule attached
to the Scheme. It is the Secretary, who will register the case under
the MIG Legal Aid Scheme and proceed to forward the papers to
the Advocate-on-Record/ Arguing Counsel/ Senior Counsel on
the panel for opinion.
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• As per the scheme, contingent fund will be created to meet the

miscellaneous expenditure in connection with the case under the
Scheme by requiring the applicant to deposit upto the stage of
admission, a sum of Rs.750/- in addition to the charges required
to be deposited with the Society, out of this contingent fund.
b) Pro bono legal services: The ‘Pro bono legal services’ initiative is a
web based platform, through which interested lawyers can register
themselves to volunteer pro bono services for the underprivileged
litigants, who are unable to afford it. The Department of Justice has
launched the online application for this initiative on its website
doj.gov.in. Through this online portal, litigants from marginalised
communities (including members of scheduled castes and scheduled
tribes, women, children, senior citizens, persons with low income and
persons with disabilities) can also apply for legal aid and advice from
the pro bono lawyers.
c) District Facilitation Centre to reduce pendency: Engagement of
Nyaya Mitra: At present, more than 2.4 crore cases are pending in
the district and lower judiciary, of which nearly 10% are more than 10
years old. Collective action and efforts in remedying this situation is
required. In this context, the Minister also inaugurated the Nyaya Mitra
scheme, which is aimed at reducing pendency of cases across selected
districts, with special focus on those pending for more than 10 years,
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d) e-Courts
• The e-Court will provide an electronic case list (e-case list) before
the presiding judge for him/her to make digital notings on a
computer that has electronic case records.
• The case records and notings would be synchronised in the
database.
• Advocates, judges and all litigant parties can use the e-Court
facility to digitally file records. The Court Display Board will be
automatically updated.
• Even SMS alerts will be automatically sent to advocates.
• e-Courts have already proven to be a success in New Delhi. As
the country is moving towards digitisation in a massive manner,
it is only apt for the courts too to become paperless as it speeded
up the delivery of justice.
• The court that has digital display boards had also developed an
android-based mobile application to disseminate information
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relating to legal services and various Nalsa schemes.
• The first paperless e-Court in the Hyderabad High Court got
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inaugurated giving a kick-start to digital judicature.
e) Tele-Law initiative
• Government of India has launched the ‘Tele-Law’.
• Under this legal aid services will be provided through Common
Service Centres (CSC) at the Panchayat level, spread across the
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country.
How will it work? • Under the scheme, a portal called ‘Tele-Law’ will be launched, which
will be available across the Common Service Centre (CSC) network.
• This will connect the citizens to legal service providers. People will be
able to seek legal advice from lawyers through video conferencing
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available at the Common Service Centres (CSC).

• The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) will provide a panel
of lawyers from State capitals, who will be available through video
conferencing to provide legal advice and counselling to the applicants.
What will be the role of a Para • Every Common Service Centre (CSC) will also engage a Para Legal
Legal Volunteer (PLV)? Volunteer (PLV), who will be the first point of contact for the rural
citizens.
• These PLVs will help the applicant connect with a lawyer through
the video conferencing facility at the CSC, will help them in
understanding the legal issues, explain the advice given by lawyers
and assist in further action required in cases as per the advice of the
lawyer.
• They will also keep a track of the progress of the applicants’ cases and
grievances and maintain a record. These records will be submitted to
the District Legal Service Authority every week.
Agencies involved: • It is a collaboration between the Ministry of Law and Justice and
the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY),
which runs the Digital India programme.
• In the first phase, a pilot project is being rolled out across 1000
Common Service Centres (CSC) in Uttar Pradesh & Bihar.
Access to Justice Project for • This scheme is a continuation to the Access to Justice Project for
Marginalized Persons Marginalized Persons.
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• This scheme is being implemented by Department of Justice and
United Nation Development Programme (UNDP).
• It’s objective is to mainstream legal literacy through common service
centres in Jharkhand (10 CSCs in 3 districts) and then through 500
CSCs across 11 districts in Rajasthan. Under the program, 500 VLEs
in Rajasthan were trained on social justice legislations such as the
right to information, fundamental rights, citizen rights vis-à-vis policing,
gender laws, child rights and labour laws.
33. All India Judicial Services

Context • There are at least 4,400 vacancies for judges in the subordinate
judiciary, including for district judges.
• The Government has revived the proposal to constitute an All-India
Judicial Service (AIJS) for appointment of district judges through a
rigorous examination process to be conducted by the Union Public
Service Commission.
Guidelines • State public service commissions, under the guidance of the high courts,
will continue to recruit civil judges and magistrates for the lower courts.
•
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The creation of an AIJS was first proposed in 1960. The Chief Justices’
conferences in 1961, 1963 and 1965 favoured creation of an AIJS.
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But the proposal had to be shelved after some states and HCs opposed it, according to a consultation paper
prepared in 2001 as part of the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution.
• Subsequently, the Constitution was amended in 1977 to provide for
an AIJS under Article 312.
SC
• The proposal was again floated by the UPA government in 2012 when
it got it vetted by a committee of secretaries and prepared a Cabinet
note. But the draft bill was shelved again after opposition from HC
chief justices who found this an infringement of their rights.
AIJS • The AIJS is an attempt to ensure that younger judges are promoted to
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the SC and HCs. In the existing system, recruits join as magistrates in

the subordinate judiciary and take at least 10 years to become district
judges. The committee of secretaries had earlier recommended
enhancing the quota for recruitment to the higher judiciary through
the proposed AIJS to 50%.
34. TRIBUNALS
• An administrative Tribunal is a multi-member body to hear on cases
filed by the staff members alleging non-observation of their terms of
service or any other related matters and to pass judgments on those
cases.
• Tribunals were added in the Constitution by Constitution (Forty-
second Amendment) Act, 1976 as Part XIV-A, which has only two
articles viz. 323-A and 323-B. (On the recommendation of Swarn
Singh Committee)
• While article 323-A deals with Administrative Tribunals. Article 323A
provides that a law made by the Parliament may provide for
establishment of an Administrative Tribunal for the Union and a
separate Administrative Tribunal for each state or two or more
states. These tribunals exclude the jurisdiction of all courts except
the special jurisdiction of the Supreme Court in Article 136.
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The matters for these tribunals are as follows:
a) Recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to
public services in Union as well as States as well as Local
authorities.
b) Recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to
any corporation owned or controlled by the Government.
• Article 323-B deals with tribunals for other matters.
• The ‘Tribunals’ are not courts of normal jurisdiction, but they have
very specific and pre-defined work area. The administrative tribunals
are not original invention of the Indian Political System. They are well
established in all democratic countries of Europe as well as United
States of America.
‘What distinguishes a Court from a quasi-judicial tribunal is that it is charged with a duty to decide disputes in a
judicial manner and declare the rights of parties in a definitive judgment. To decide in a judicial manner involves
that the parties are entitled as a matter of right to be heard in support of their claim and to adduce evidence in
proof of it. And it also imports an obligation on the part of the authority to decide the matter on a consideration of
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the evidence adduced and in accordance with law. When a question therefore arises as to whether an authority
OR
created by an Act is a Court as distinguished from a quasi-judicial tribunal, what has to be decided is whether
having regard to the provisions of the Act it possesses all the attributes of a Court.’
35. Centre for Vulnerable in High Court

• Vulnerable witnesses in criminal cases, often minor survivors of rape
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or victims of sex abuse face trauma in conventional courtrooms.
• Victims often end up being ill-treated by the very system they had
approached in the hope of justice. Delay and intimidating questions
during trial in a hostile environment lead to fewer convictions.
• Thus, the Supreme Court has ordered the setting up of at least two
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vulnerable witnesses deposition centres in the jurisdiction of every

High Court across the country within the next three months.
• The Bench suggested that other high courts should adopt the Delhi
HC’s ‘Guidelines for Recording the Evidence of Vulnerable Witnesses
in Criminal Matters,’ with required modifications. The Delhi HC’s
guidelines are filtered from the best practices followed by other
countries and the police and precedents of the apex court and high
courts.
• The practices include a screen or some arrangement by which the
victim does not see the body or face of the accused; reducing cross-
examination questions to writing and handing them over to the judge
to be put to the victim in a language that is clear and not embarrassing;
and sufficient breaks for victims of child abuse or rape while testifying.
• The order upholds the right of vulnerable witnesses to be protected
while testifying in court and is in consonance with international norms
in these matters.
36. Allahabad High Court Judge to be Impeached

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra has recommended the impeachment
of Justice Shri Narayan Shukla, the eighth senior-most judge of the
Allahabad High Court, following an adverse report about him by an in-
house panel set up by the CJI.
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Justice Shukla joined the Allahabad High Court in 2005 and was set to
retire on July 17, 2020.
His orders in the cases of blacklisted private medical colleges in Lucknow
had come under the scanner of the CJI Bench last year. He was accused of
misconduct in the medical admissions scam.
Procedure of High Court • Clause (1) of Article 217 says that “every judge of a High Court shall
Judge Appointment be appointed by the President, by warrant under his hand and seal
after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of the
State, and, in the case of appointment of a Judge other than the Chief
Justice, the Chief Justice of the High Court and shall hold office, in
the case of an additional or acting judge, as provided in Article 224,
and in any other case, until he attains the age of sixty-two years”.
• A reading of this clause shows that while the appointment is made by
the President, it has to be made after consultation with three authorities,
namely, the Chief Justice of India, the Governor of the State and the
Chief Justice the High Court. (Of course, in the matter of appointment
of Chief Justice, the consultation with the Chief Justice is not required).
Just as the President is the constitutional head, so are the Governors.
• However, according to the practice, the Chief Justice of the High Court
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used to make the recommendation which was considered by the
Governor of the State (Council of Ministers headed by the Chief
OR
Minister) who offered his comments for or against the recommendation.
• The matter then goes to the Central Government. At that stage, the
opinion of the Chief Justice is sought and based upon such advice, the
appointment is either made or declined, as the case may be.
Procedure for removal of • According to the Constitution, a judge can be removed only on grounds
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High Court Judge of misbehavior or incapacity. In this case, sources said, it is possible
that a motion will be moved on the ground of conduct unbecoming a
serious issue for both judiciary and the government.
• A judge may be removed from his office on the ground of (a)
misbehavior or (b) incapacity. The removal involves the following
steps:
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– A motion for presenting an address to the President praying for

the removal of a judge must be signed by at least 100 members of
the Lok Sabha (if notice is given in the Lok Sabha).
– The Chairman or the Speaker (as the case may be) may consult
such persons as he thinks fit and consider such material as may
be available and may admit the motion or refuse to admit it.
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– If the motion is admitted, a committee consisting of 3 persons
will be constituted of whom:
– One shall be from among the Chief Justice and judges of the
Supreme Court.
– One shall be from among the Chief Justice and the judges of the
High Court.
– One shall be a person who is a distinguished jurist.
• If the committee arrives at a finding that the judge is guilty of
misbehaviour or suffers from an incapacity, then the motion for removal
of the judge together with the report of the committee will be taken up
for consideration in the House in which it is pending.
• The motion must be passed by each House by a majority of the total
membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-third
of the members of that House present and voting. After being so passed,
the address is presented to the President.
Judges against which • In 1993, impeachment proceedings were initiated against Justice V
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impeachment had been proposed Ramaswamy, who was caught in a controversy while he was the Chief
Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. But the impeachment
OR
motion failed after the Congress lawmakers abstained from voting.
• In 2011, Justice Soumitra Sen of Calcutta High Court stepped down
after Rajya Sabha passed his impeachment motion. There were
allegations of financial irregularities against him.
• The same year, Justice PD Dinakaran, the Chief Justice of Sikkim
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High Court who was accused of corruption, resigned before
impeachment proceedings could be started against him.
37. Terms in News

• Sedition: The court had pointed out two essential ingredients required
to establish the crime of sedition:
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1. The acts must be intended to have the “effect of subverting the

government” by violent means, and
2. The acts must be intended to create disorder or disturbance of
public peace and order by resort to violence and must incite
violence.
• Public Interest Litigation: Public Interest Litigation means litigation
for the protection of the public interest. It is litigation introduced in a
court of law, not by the aggrieved party but by the court itself or
by any other private party. Public interest litigation is the power
given to the public by courts through judicial activism. However,
the person filing the petition must prove to the satisfaction of the court
that the petition is being filed for a public interest and not just as a
frivolous litigation.
• Defamation: In India, defamation can both be a civil wrong and a
criminal offence. The difference between the two lies in the objects
they seek to achieve. While a civil wrong tends to provide for
a redressal of wrongs by awarding compensation, a criminal law seeks
to punish a wrongdoer and send a message to others not to commit
such acts.
In Indian laws, criminal defamation has been specifically defined as
an offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) whereas the civil
defamation is based on tort law – an area of law which does not rely
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on statutes to define wrongs but takes from ever-increasing body of
case laws to define what would constitute a wrong.
• Judicial Review: Judicial Review refers to the power of the judiciary
to interpret the constitution and to declare any such law or order of the
legislature and executive void, if it finds them in conflict with the
Constitution of India. The Constitution of India is the supreme law of
the land.
The provision of judicial review has been adopted in the Indian
constitution from the constitution of the United States of America.
In the Indian constitution, Judicial Review is dealt with, under Article
13.
Judicial Review implies that the Constitution is the supreme power of
the nation and all laws are under its supremacy.
The twenty-fourth amendment to the constitution passed in 1971
authorized parliament to amend any provision of the constitution.
However, the Supreme Court subsequently declared that while
parliament was competent to amend any provision of the constitution,
any amendment has to conform to the basic framework of the
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constitution.
This led the government to introduce the forty-second amendment to
OR
the constitution during the proclamation of emergency, which stripped
the apex court of the power of reviewing an amendment to the
constitution. However, the forty-third and forty-fourth amendments
undid the provisions of the forty-second amendment regarding powers
of the Supreme Court to judge the validity of constitutional
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amendments.
• Judicial Activism: “Judicial Activism” is the view that courts make
political rather than legal decisions to further some agenda, and strictly
reviewing the legality of a law under the letter of the law and prior
precedent. It refers to the process in which judiciary steps into the
shoes of legislature and comes up with new rules and regulations,
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which the legislature ought to have done earlier. Judicial Overreach

refers to an extreme form of judicial activism where arbitrary,
unreasonable and frequent interventions are made by judiciary into
the legislatures domain, often with the intention of disrupting the
balance of powers between executive, legislature and judiciary.
What is the need of judicial activism?
a) When the other political branches of the government, viz. the
legislature and the executive fail to discharge their respective
functions, it leads to an erosion of the confidence of the citizens
in the constitutional values and democracy. In such a scenario,
the judiciary steps into the areas usually earmarked for the
legislature and executive.
b) In case the fundamental rights of the people are trampled by the
government or any other third party, the judges may take upon
themselves the task of aiding the ameliorating conditions of the
citizens cited as judicial activism.
c) To fill the legislative vacuum and to meet the societal needs, the
courts often indulge in judicial legislation thereby encroaching in
the domain of legislature.
• Contempt of Court: In India, the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971,
divides contempt into civil contempt and criminal contempt.
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Civil contempt is when a person wilfully disobeys any order of a court.
Criminal contempt is “interfering” with the administration of justice
(for instance, interrupting a court hearing by singing obnoxiously), or
“scandalizing” the court or “lowering its authority”.
Contempt of Court Provision under Constitution:
a) Constitution of India -Art. 129: Supreme Court to be a court
of record.—The Supreme Court shall be a court of record and
shall have all the powers of such a court including the power to
punish for contempt of itself.
b) Art.215: High Courts to be courts of record.—Every High Court
shall be a court of record and shall have all the powers of such a
court including the power to punish for contempt of itself.
c) Art.144: Civil and judicial authorities to act in aid of the Supreme
Court.—All authorities, civil and judicial, in the territory of India
shall act in aid of the Supreme Court.
d) Art.141: Law declared by Supreme Court to be binding on all
courts— The law declared by the Supreme Court shall be binding
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on all courts within the territory of India.
• Hate Speech: Hate speech is an expression which is likely to cause
OR
distress or offend other individuals on the basis of their association
with a particular group or incite hostility towards them.
According to the international experience the criteria may be:
a) In order to qualify as hate speech, the speech must be offensive
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and project the extreme form of emotion.
b) The speech must amount to incitement in order to be restricted.
This is an accepted norm to limit speech.
c) The position of the author of the speech is important in determining
the legality of limitation imposed by the State. Thus ‘interferences
with the freedom of expression of a politician calls for the closest
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scrutiny on the Court’s part’.

d) The status of the targeted audience is also important in determining
whether a speech can be limited.
e) The potential impact of the speech has to be viewed to determine
the speaker’s state of mind at the time speech was rendered
f) Every seemingly hateful speech may not be termed as a hate speech.
The context in which the speech was made is essential in
determining its permissibility. The context of expression has
always been looked into while adjudging the restriction.
• Convention against Torture: The Convention against Torture and
Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)
is an international human rights treaty, under the aegis of the United
Nations that aims to prevent torture and other acts of cruel,
inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment around the world.
“The Convention puts victims at the heart of its normative mechanism,
partly by combating the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of such
acts in authorising the arrest of alleged torturers on the sole ground of
their presence in the territory under a State Party’s jurisdiction and
also by defining the widespread and systematic use of torture as a
crime against humanity.” “The Optional Protocol to the Convention
against Torture established the Sub-Committee on the Prevention of
Torture (SPT), whose task is to carry out inspection visits, in
conjunction with national prevention agencies, to all places of detention
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in the State Parties to the Protocol. The Protocol requires State Parties
to set up a visiting body or bodies for the prevention of torture and
abuse (known as the national preventive mechanism) within one year
after the coming into effect of the Convention for the State Party
concerned.
Constitutional Provisions related to Torture
a) Article 20(3) provides that a person accused of any offence shall
not be compelled to become a witness against himself. The accused
has a right to maintain silence and not to disclose his defence
before the trial. 67 Test results of polygraph and brain finger
printing tests have been held to be testimonial compulsions and
thus have been held to be barred by Article 20(3).
b) Article 21 provides that nobody can be deprived of his life and
liberty without following the procedure prescribed by law. The
Supreme Court has consistently held that custodial torture violates
right to life enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution. It is settled
legal proposition that Article 21 may also supplement various
requirements laid down in Article 20.
c) Article 22 (1) & (2) provide for protection against arrest and
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detention in certain cases. It prohibits detention of any person in
custody without being informed the grounds for his arrest nor he
OR
shall be denied the right to consult and to be defended by a legal
practitioner of his choice. “Every person who is arrested and
detained in custody shall be produced before the nearest judicial
magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest
and no such person shall be detained in custody beyond the said
period without the authority of a magistrate.”
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• Master of the Roster: ‘Master of the Roster’ refers to the privilege

of the Chief Justice to constitute Benches to hear cases.
This privilege was emphasised in November last year, when a
Constitution Bench, led by the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra,
declared that “the Chief Justice is the master of the roster and he alone
has the prerogative to constitute the Benches of the Court and allocate
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cases to the Benches so constituted.”

No Judge can take up the matter on his own, unless allocated by the
Chief Justice of India.
The immediate trigger for this was a direction by a two-judge Bench
(led by Justice Chelameswar) that a petition regarding a medical college
corruption case, involving an alleged conspiracy to bribe Supreme
Court judges, be heard by a Bench of the five senior-most judges of
the Supreme Court.
• Constitutional Bench: Constitution bench is the name given to the
benches of the Supreme Court of India which consist of at least five
judges of the court which sit to decide any case “involving a
substantial question of law as to the interpretation” of the Constitution
of India. This provision has been mandated by Article 145 (3) of the
Constitution of India. The Chief Justice of India has the power to
constitute a Constitution Bench and refer cases to it
IMPORTANT COMMITTEES related to Prison and criminal Justice System reforms
• Mulla Committee: (All India Committee on Jail Reforms 1980-83)- The basic objective of the Committee
was to review the laws, rules and regulations keeping in view the overall objective of protecting society and
rehabilitating offenders. It recommended a total ban on the heinous practice of clubbing together juvenile
offenders with hardened criminals in prisons.
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• Krishna Iyer Committee: It was constituted in 1987 for women prisoners.
• Malimath Committee on reforms of Criminal Justice System.
• Justice Verma Committee to review laws for sexual crimes.
38. Cooperative Federalism

Introduction • Cooperative federalism implies that the Centre and states share a
horizontal relationship, where they "cooperate" in the larger public
interest. It's visualized as an important tool to enable states' participation
in the formulation and implementation of national policies.
Executive Mechanisms for A. Inter-State Council (ISC)
Co-Operative Federalism • Article 263 of the Constitution, provides the provision for the formation
of an Inter-State Council.
• The members of the Inter-State Council consist of Chief Ministers of
all states, Chief Ministers of Union Territories having a Legislative
Assembly and Administrators of UTs not having a Legislative
Assembly, Six Union Ministers and eleven Union Cabinet Ministers/
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Minister of State (Independent Charge) as permanent invitees.
• The Council is charged with the duty of -
a)
b)
between States;
OR
Inquiring into and advising upon disputes which may have arisen
Investigating and discussing subjects in which some or all of the States,

or the Union and one or more of the States, have a common interest;
or
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c) Making recommendations upon any such subject and in particular,
recommendations for the better co-ordination of policy and action
with respect to that subject, it shall be lawful for the President by
order to establish such a Council, and to define the nature of the
duties to be performed by it and its organization and procedure.
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B. Zonal Council
• The idea of creation of Zonal Councils was mooted by the first Prime
Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1956 when during the
course of debate on the report of the States Re-organisation
Commission, he suggested that the States proposed to be re-organised
may be grouped into four or five zones having an Advisory Council
'to develop the habit of cooperative working among these States.
• The main objectives of setting up of Zonal Councils are as under:
1. Bringing out national integration;
2. Arresting the growth of acute State consciousness, regionalism,
linguism and particularistic tendencies;
3. Enabling the Centre and the States to co-operate and exchange ideas
and experiences; and
4. Establishing a climate of co-operation amongst the States for successful
and speedy execution of development projects.
C. Niti Aayog
• NITI Aayog is the premier policy 'Think Tank' of the Government of
India, providing both directional and policy inputs. While designing
strategic and long term policies and programmes for the Government
of India, NITI Aayog also provides relevant technical advice to the
Centre and States.
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• At the core of NITI Aayog's creation are two hubs - Team India
Hub and the Knowledge and Innovation Hub. The Team India Hub
leads the engagement of states with the Central government, while the
Knowledge and Innovation Hub builds NITI's think-tank capabilities.
These hubs reflect the two key tasks of the Aayog.
• NITI Aayog is also developing itself as a State of the Art Resource
Centre, with the necessary resources, knowledge and skills, that will
enable it to act with speed, promote research and innovation, provide
strategic policy vision for the government, and deal with contingent
issues.
Indexes launched by NITI Aayog
a) National Index for Performance on Health Outcomes
• The NITI Aayog and Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare jointly launched Performance on Health
Outcomes index, to rank States on the basis of their performance on measurable health indicators.
• It capture the annual incremental improvements of the states, rather than focusing on historical achievements.
Mainly, it will be used to propel actions of states to improve health outcomes and improve data collection
systems. It include monitorable indicators that form part of Sustainable Development Goal in Health.
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b) India Innovation Index
• The NITI Aayog, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and Confederation of Indian Industry
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(CII) jointly launched India Innovation Index, to make India an innovation-driven economy.
• This will rank states on Innovations through country's first online innovation index portal that will capture data
on innovation from all Indian states on innovation and regularly update it in real time.
c) Agriculture Marketing and Farm Friendly Reforms Index
• The first-ever index based on initiatives taken by the states in implementing farm sector reforms was issued
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by the NITI Aayog.
• The index ranks states based on their initiatives taken in implementing provision of seven farm sector reforms.
These reforms have been proposed under model APMC Act, joining eNAM initiative, special treatment to
fruits and vegetables for marketing and level of taxes in mandis.
• The index identifies three major parameters. They are:
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– Agricultural market reforms.
– Land lease reforms.
– Reforms related to forestry on private land - felling and transit of trees.
• States are ranked based on score on the scale ranging from 0 to 100. The minimum score of 0 implies no
reforms at all and score of 100 means state is friendliest to farmers.
• Maharashtra has been ranked first state in the country in 2016 Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly
Reforms Index.
d) School Education Quality Index (SEQI)
• The goal of the State-level 'School Education Quality Index' (SEQI) is to institutionalize a focus on improving
education outcomes (learning, access, equity) in India.
• It recognizes that school education is a subject on the Concurrent List and State-level leadership is critical for
improving outcomes in cost-effective ways.
• The SEQI will provide insights into each State/UT's strengths, weaknesses, and areas requiring more focused
action and resources. Further, it seeks to encourage positive competition and to propel States and UTs to
innovate to improve outcomes. It is hoped that calculation and dissemination of the SEQI will:
a. Shift the policy focus to educational outcomes rather than inputs and programs alone.
b. Encourage State-led innovation in cost-effective policy approaches to improve outcomes.
c. Facilitate sharing of best practices across States and UTs.
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• The Index does not use binary indicators since progress on most metrics is a continuous process. Hence,
States and UTs would be recognized for continuous improvements on key measures of performance.
e) Water Management Index
• NITI Aayog has developed a Composite Water Management Index as a useful tool to assess and further
improve the performance in efficient management of water resources. The index would provide useful
information for the States and also for the concerned Central Ministries/Departments enabling them to formulate
and implement suitable strategies for better management of water resources.
39. Issue of President Rule

Article 356 • According to Article 356, President's Rule can be imposed in a state
if a situation has arisen in which the government of the state cannot
be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
• The expression "breakdown of constitutional machinery" has not
been defined in the Constitution. It can happen due to political reasons
such as hung assembly, the government losing majority in the
assembly, failure of any political grouping to form a government,
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defections and break-up of coalition or because of insurgency etc.
Whatever may be the reason, the President has to be satisfied about of
breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state.
OR
Governor's Report or Otherwise Generally, the governor sends a report in this regard to the Centre and it's
his/her report that forms the basis for the Union Cabinet's recommendation
to the President for invoking Article 356 to impose President's rule.
However, the provision also says that the President can take such a decision
even "otherwise" (i.e. even in the absence of governor's report). But in any
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case, the President has to be satisfied that the constitutional machinery has
broken down in the state.
Governor's Discretion While sending a report to the Centre, the governor is not supposed to go
by the advice of the state cabinet and exercises his or her own discretion.
On the contrary, the President has to go by the advice of the Union Cabinet.
But he can seek clarifications from the council of ministers.
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Implications of President's Rule • Once President rule is imposed, the assembly ceases to function and
the state comes under the Central government's direct control. The
assembly is generally kept in suspended animation. The powers of
the state assembly become exercisable by or under the authority of
Parliament. The executive power shifts from the council of ministers
to the governor.
• Once imposed, President's rule must be approved by Parliament
within a period of two months. It can't last for more than six months
unless its extension is approved by Parliament.
Why this Article is Criticized? • The expression "breakdown of constitutional machinery" has not been
defined in the Constitution. It can happen due to political reasons such
as, hung assembly, the Government losing majority in the assembly,
failure of any political grouping to form a government, defections and
break-up of coalition or because of insurgency etc.
40. 15th Finance Commission

• The Government of India, with the approval of President of India, has
constituted Fifteenth Finance Commission in pursuance of clause (1)
of article 280 of the Constitution, read with the provisions of the
Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1951.
• This Commission will be headed by Shri N.K. Singh.
• The new Finance Commission will cover five-year period commencing
April 1, 2020.
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Facts related to Finance Commission
• Article 280 of the Constitution provides for a FC as a quasi-judicial body. It is constituted by the President
every 5th year or at such earlier time as he considers necessary.
• The FC makes recommendations to the President on following matter:
a) To the distribution of the net proceeds of taxes between the centre and the states, and the allocation
between the states of the respective shares of such proceeds.
b) The principle that should govern the grants-in-aid to the states by the centre (out of the Consolidated
Fund of India).
c) The measures to augment the Consolidated Fund of a state to supplement the resources of local
governments on the basis of recommendations made by the state finance commission. Any other
matter referred to it by the President.
• Recommendations made by the FC are only advisory in nature.
• It is composed of a Chairman and four other members to be appointed by the President. The constitution
authorizes the Parliament to determine the qualifications of the Commission and the manner in
which they should be selected. Accordingly, Chairman should be an experienced person with experience
in public affairs. Four other members can be selected from amongst the following:
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a) A judge of the High Court or one qualified to be one.
b) A person with special knowledge of finance and accounts of the government.
OR
c) A person having wide experience in financial and administrative matters.
d) A person who has special knowledge of economics.
The First Finance Commission headed by K.C. Neogy had recommended that the states get a tenth of total taxes
collected centrally. That share has steadily increased. The 14th Finance Commission headed by Y. V. Reddy
recommended that the share of the states should be 42%.
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41. UT's Administration and Issues

Article 239- Administration of • The Union Territories are administered by the President through an
the Union Territories administrator, who is appointed by him with a suitable designation.
• This designation is called either Lieutenant Governor or Chief
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Commissioner or Administrator.
• The President may appoint a Governor of an adjoining state as
administrator of a Union Territory. In such case, the Governor works
independently with regard to the administration of the Union Territory.
• Power to decide the structure of administration in the UT is vested
in Parliament. Parliament was empowered to create a legislature or
council of ministers or both for a Union Territory via Constitution
(Fourteenth Amendment) Act, 1962 by inserting Article 239A. Using
this article legislature of Puducherry was established.
Special Provisions with Respect • Article 239AA was inserted by 69th Amendment Act, 1991. This article
to Delhi (Article 239AA) provides special provisions for the Union Territory of Delhi. After the
69th Amendment Act 1991, w.e.f from February 1, 1992, the UT of
Delhi is called National Capital Territory of Delhi.
• The administrator of the NCT as appointed by the President as
Lieutenant Governor. Via Article 239AA, a legislative assembly for
NCT of Delhi was provided.
• As per the provisions of the Article 239AA, the State Government of
Delhi can make laws for whole or part of the NCT on all subjects in
the State List or Concurrent List except the following subjects of
the State List:
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a) Public Order,
b) Police,
c) Land, and
d) Offences against the laws Jurisdiction power of all courts.
Facts related to Puducherry
Puducherry UT fragments across 3 states
1) Mahe district (Kerela)
2) Karikal district & Puducherry (Tamil Nadu)
3) Yaman district (Andhra Pradesh)
What are the Powers of LG • Government of Union Territories Act, 1963 provides for a Legislative
of Puducherry? Assembly of Pondicherry, with a Council of Ministers to govern the
"Union Territory of Pondicherry".
• It states that the UT will be administered by the President of India
through an Administrator (LG). It also has following provisions:
1. Extent of Legislative Power - MLAs "may make laws for the
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whole or any part of the Union Territory with respect to any of
the matters enumerated in the State List or the Concurrent List".
2.
OR
Council of Ministers - The Council of Ministers headed by a
Chief Minister will "aid and advise the Administrator in the exercise
of his functions in relation to matters with respect to which the
Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory has power to make
laws".
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3. LG - The same clause also allows the LG to "act in his discretion"
in the matter of lawmaking, even though the Council of Ministers
has the task of aiding and advising him.
4. In case of a difference of opinion between the LG and his Ministers
on any matter, the Administrator is bound to refer it to the President
for a decision and act accordingly.
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• However, the Administrator can also claim that the matter is urgent,
and take immediate action as he deems necessary.
• Prior permission - A prior sanction of the Administrator is required
for certain legislative proposals. They include Bills or amendments
that deal with the "constitution and organisation of the court of the
Judicial Commissioner", and "jurisdiction and powers of the court of
the Judicial Commissioner with respect to any of the matters in the
State List or the Concurrent List".
How it is different from Delhi? • Both Delhi and Puducherry has an elected legislature and government
but the powers of the LG of Puducherry are different from the ones of
the LG of Delhi.
• The LG of Delhi has "Executive Functions" that allow him to exercise
his powers in matters connected to public order, police and land "in
consultation with the Chief Minister, if it is so provided under any
order issued by the President under Article 239 of the Constitution".
• While the LG of Delhi is also guided by the Government of National
Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, and the Transaction of Business
of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Rules, 1993,
the LG of Puducherry is guided mostly by the Government of Union
Territories Act, 1963.
• Articles 239 and 239AA of the Constitution, as well as the Government
of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, clearly underline that
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Delhi is a UT, where the Centre, whose eyes and ears are the LG, has
a much more prominent role than in Puducherry.
• Under the constitutional scheme, the Delhi Assembly has the power
to legislate on all subjects except law & order and land.
• However, the Puducherry Assembly can legislate on any issue under
the Concurrent and State Lists.
• However, if the law is in conflict with a law passed by Parliament, the
law passed by Parliament prevails.
• Simply put, the LG of Delhi enjoys greater powers than the LG of
Puducherry.
42. Different State News

a) J&K and Article 35A
Provisions under Art 35(A) • The Article 35(A) was extended to the state of J&K through a 1954
Presidential Order which gives protection to the state subject laws
in J&K whereby outsiders are not allowed to settle or acquire
property in the state.
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• As a consequence, no one except those defined as 'permanent residents'
are entitled to property rights; employment in state government;
OR
participation in Panchayat, municipalities and legislative assembly
elections; admission to government-run technical education institutions;
scholarships and other social benefits.
• This Article has denied certain basic rights to many communities living
within Jammu & Kashmir for the past six decades.
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• The Article 35(A) is being challenged in the Supreme Court by NGO

- We The Citizens - on its legal basis because the article was never
presented before Parliament and executed on the orders of President
of India. This provision was implemented in 1954 when the then
President Rajendra Prasad used the powers conferred on him by Article
370 to introduce the "Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir)
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Order 1954".
• The legality of Article 35(A) is being challenged on the grounds
that it was not added to the constitution by a constitutional
amendment under Article 368.
• On the above stated issue Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba
Mufti has noted that attempts to undo Article 35(A) of the Indian
Constitution would strike a fatal blow to the nationalists in the state.
Kashmiris are apprehensive that such a move would open the sluice
gates for a demographic transformation of the Valley which is an
objective propounded by nationalist forces as the ideal solution to the
Kashmir problem.
Special Provisions for Jammu and Kashmir provided in the Constitution of India
The Temporary, Transitional and Special provisions are provided in part XXI of Indian constitution. Article 370
deals with the State of Jammu & Kashmir which forms a part of the 'territory of India' as defined in Article 1 of the
Constitution, being the fifteenth State included in the First Schedule of the Constitution, as it stands amended.
The important provisions of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir can be summarized as follows:
1. Territory of Jammu and Kashmir consists of all those areas which were under the sovereignty of erstwhile
ruler. These areas include that territory which is at present under the occupation of Pakistan.
2. Out of 123 assembly seats of Jammu and Kashmir, 25 allotted to the Pakistan occupied portion of Kashmir,
remain vacant because the situation is unsuitable for the election there.
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3. Though the executive and legislative powers of the State government cover the entire state, yet these powers
do not apply to those areas which come under the jurisdiction of Parliament.
4. The "permanent residents" of Jammu and Kashmir enjoys all rights which are guaranteed in the Constitution
of the country.
5. A majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the house can amend the Constitution by passing a
Bill. But the Bill cannot make the changes in provisions relating to the relationship between the state and the
Union.
6. No law passed by the Parliament regarding the state of Jammu and Kashmir can be applied to the state
without the Order of President of India in concurrence of the State government.
7. Article 370 specifies that except for defence, foreign affairs, finance and communications, the Indian Parliament
needs the State Governments concurrence for applying all other laws.
8. Part VI in whole is not applicable to J&K.
9. There is no state list for the state of J&K.
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10. The residuary powers belongs to the state legislature.
11. The power to make laws related to preventive detention in J&K belong to state legislature.
OR
12. The Union of India has no power to declare financial emergency Under Article 360 in the state.
13. Part IV A (Fundamental Duties) are not applicable to J&K.
14. Union has no power to suspend constitution of J&K.
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15. The High Court of J&K has limited powers. It cannot declare any law unconstitutional. Unlike High Court in
other states, Under Article 226 of Indian constitution, it can’t issue writs except for the enforcement of
Fundamental Rights.
b) Assam Manipur can now decide on AFSPA
Context • The Union Home Ministry has decided to give up its power to impose
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the 'disturbed areas' tag on Assam and Manipur. The move effectively
means it will be the States' decision to either continue the Armed Forces
(Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) or to revoke it.
About AFSPA • AFSPA was first invoked in Assam for the first time in 1990. As per
Section 3 of the AFSPA, it can be invoked in places where "the use of
armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary."
• The AFSPA empowers the Army and Central forces deployed in
"disturbed areas" to kill anyone breaking the law and arrest and search
any premises without warrant.
• The choice of declaring any area as 'disturbed' vests both with state
and central government. After an area comes under the ambit of
AFSPA, any commissioned officer, warrant officer, non-commissioned
officer or another person of equivalent rank can use force for a variety
of reasons while still being immune to the prosecution.
Decision of the Centre • The centre has decided to rescind the power of invoking the AFSPA
in two States of Assam and Manipur for now. The States are competent
to decide whether they want to continue with it in entirety or impose it
in a few pockets where disturbance is expected. But there is no such
proposal for Jammu and Kashmir.
• Earlier, the Home Ministry used to issue a notification declaring States
"disturbed areas" every six months. Right now, AFSPA is effective in
the whole of Nagaland, Assam and Manipur (excluding seven
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Assembly constituencies of Imphal). In Arunachal Pradesh, it is in
force in 16 police station areas and in Tirap, Longding and Changlang
districts bordering Assam. Tripura withdrew the AFSPA in 2015. It
is not in force in Meghalaya (except in a 20-km area along the border
with Assam) and Mizoram.
c) Anti-Conversion Bill (The Religious Freedom Bill-2017)
• The Jharkhand Assembly has passed the anti-conversion Bill[The
Religious Freedom Bill-2017].
• It forbids religious conversion through allurement or coercion.
Fundamental Rights related to Religion are:
• Articles 25-28: Right to Freedom of Religion in India
• Article 25: Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.
• Article 26: Freedom to manage religious affairs.
• Article 27: Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion.
• Article 28: Freedom as to attendance at religious instruction or religious worship in certain education institutions.
d) More Seats for Sikkim Assembly
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• Home Ministry has proposed amendments to the Second Schedule
to the RP Act, 1950, whereby total seats in Sikkim Legislative
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Assembly will be 40 in place of existing 32, reserving five seats for
Limboo and Tamang, while retaining existing reservations for Bhutias,
Lepchas, Scheduled Castes and Sanghas.
e) Gorkhaland Issue
• The proposed state of Gorkhaland consists of Nepali-speaking people
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of Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and other hilly districts.

• The people belonging to these areas have ethical, cultural and language
differences with the Bengali community of West-Bengal.
• The demand of Darjeeling as a separate administrative region dates
back to 1907. But, the term "Gorkhaland" was coined recently, in
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the 1980s, by Subhash Ghising, the founder of Gorkha National

Liberation Front (GNLF).
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• The Gorkhaland Movement is a movement mainly focused in the
Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal, which demands the creation of a
separate state of Gorkhaland.
• The area covers Duars and Terai region of West Bengal, and is famous
for its tea and beauty, which are the main sources of its income.
f) UPCOCA
• The Uttar Pradesh government has introduced in the state Assembly a
Bill to enact a stringent law on the the lines of the Maharashtra Control
of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to combat organised crimes in the
state.
• Provisions of the UPCOCA Bill: The UPCOCA Bill has 28 provisions
in addition to the Gangsters Act, the existing law against organised
crime in U.P.
– The accused booked under the UPCOCA will not be able to secure
bail before six months of their arrest.
– The proposed bill has a provision for prolonged police remand of
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30 days for an accused, apart from his closed-door interrogation.
This also won't allow those taken into custody, on the basis of
doubts, to get bail early.
–
OR
The convicts would face a minimum jail term of three years and a
maximum of life imprisonment or even death sentence. It also
levies a fine of 5 lakh to 25 lakhs and extends the period of filing
a charge sheet from 90 days to 180 days.
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– Bill has shifted the burden of proof from the prosecution to the
accused, violating the basic principle of the criminal law that says
everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
– The confessional statements made before the police will be the
final. This contradicts CrPC, under which only a statement made
before a magistrate will be admissible as confession and only
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when they are made voluntarily.

– Instead of organising identification parade, the police will get the
accused identified through videos and photos that can easily be
tampered with.
– The provisions of the UPCOCA states that those arrested under
the Act will be lodged in the high-security area of the jail. Only
after the permission of the district magistrate, their relatives or
associates will be able to meet them in the jail and only after the
approval of the medical board, the accused will be granted
permission to stay in the hospital for more than 36 hours.
– The UPCOCA law would give special powers to the police to
arrest accused and members of the crime syndicates. Under the
proposed Bill, the state would be empowered to seize the property
of such people after taking the consent of a special court
constituted to hear the cases.
– The new Bill will allow the state to confiscate such assets after the
conviction. It empowers the police to intercept wire, electronic or
oral communications and present them before a court as evidence
against the accused.
– One of the provisions of the proposed Bill requires journalists to
take permission from competent authorities before publishing
anything on organised crime.
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g) State flag for Karnataka
1. A committee constituted last June by the Karnataka government to
examine the feasibility of having a separate flag for the state has
submitted its report
2. It has recommended an official three-coloured flag to replace an
unofficial two-coloured one currently used to signify local pride
3. The committee has recommended a flag with the yellow and red of
the unofficial flag to be separated by white in the middle with the state
symbol on it
Clearance of MHA required 1. The proposal needs to be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA) for clearance
2. If adopted with clearance from the MHA, Karnataka will be the second
state after Jammu and Kashmir to have an official state flag.
3. Karnataka has had an unofficial state flag since the mid-1960s, used
to signify local pride
4. Sikkim also have an unofficial flag.
h) NOTA in Rajya Sabha Poll
E
The Election Commission had earlier released a notification that provides
MLAs the NOTA (None of the above) option for elections to the three
OR
Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat. The notification led to concerns being
raised by major political parties.
The political parties are concerned that MLAs could defy the party whip
and invalidate their votes by opting for NOTA.
The parties also argued that since there is open ballot for the voting in
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Rajya Sabha election, there is not much point in introducing NOTA.

The political parties also questioned the authority of the EC to introduce
this measure without a Constitutional amendment.
How will the NOTA work in According to Article 80(4) of the Constitution, the representatives of each
RS elections? State in the Rajya Sabha shall be elected by the elected members of the
Legislative Assembly of the State in accordance with the system of
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proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.

A candidate has to get a required number of votes calculated through a
formula to get elected to Rajya Sabha.
The total number of votes (MLAs) are divided by the number of seats
going to the polls from the State, adding one vote to the number.
In Rajya Sabha polls, the MLAs have to show their ballot paper to an
authorised party agent before putting it in ballot box.
If a member from a party exercises the NOTA option, then the total number
of votes cast will go down.
The impact of the decision of MLAs to exercise the NOTA option in
elections to the Rajya Sabha will be the same as that of an abstention.
In Kuldip Nayar v. Union of India (2006), the Supreme Court has held that
open ballot votes in Rajya Sabha elections against the whip will not lead to
disqualification as per the Tenth Schedule (Anti-defection Law).
But the party will be free to take disciplinary action including expulsion.
The defiant voter can continue to be an MLA and his vote can also not be
invalidated for defying party directions.
What is NOTA? The Supreme Court in PUCL v. Union of India, 2013 directed the use of
NOTA in the context of direct elections to the Lok Sabha and the respective
State Assemblies.
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The judgment delineated that in a direct election the voters must be given
an option to choose “None of the above” to express their dissatisfaction
with all the candidates/ political parties on the ballot.
43. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC): Appointment Issue

Appointment & Tenure of • The President has the power to select Chief Election Commissioner
Commissioners and Election Commissioners.
• They have tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever
is earlier.
• They have the same status and receive pay and perks as available to
Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
• The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only
through accusation by Parliament.
• Election commissioner or a regional commissioner shall not be removed
from office except on the recommendation of the Chief Election
Commissioner.
E
Functions and Powers Key functions of the Election Commission of India are as under:
• The Election Commission of India is considered the guardian of free
• OR
and reasonable elections.
It issues the Model Code of Conduct in every election for political
parties and candidates so that the decorum of democracy is maintained.
• It regulates political parties and registers them for being eligible to
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contest elections.
• It publishes the allowed limits of campaign expenditure per candidate
to all the political parties, and also monitors the same.
• The political parties must submit their annual reports to the ECI for
getting tax benefit on contributions.
• It guarantees that all the political parties regularly submit their audited
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financial reports.
Other powers handled by the Election Commission of India are as follows:
• The Commission can repress the results of opinion polls if it deems
such an action fit for the cause of democracy.
• The Commission can recommend for disqualification of members after
the elections if it thinks they have violated certain guidelines.
• In case, a candidate is found guilty of dishonest practices during the
elections, the Supreme Court and High Courts consult the Commission.
• The Commission can postpone candidates who fail to submit their
election expense accounts timely.
Criteria for National party status
• Political parties are political organizations of individuals that seek to influence government policy,
usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office.
• The Election Commission registers political parties for the purpose of elections and grants them recognition
as national or state parties.
• A political party becomes eligible to be recognised as a national party if it has won 2 per cent of seats in Lok
Sabha from at least three different States in the latest general election; or in a Lok Sabha or Assembly
election it has polled 6 per cent of the total valid votes in at least four states, in addition to winning four Lok
Sabha seats; or it has been recognised as a State party in at least four states.
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44. State Funding in Elections

• State funding basically means that government extending financial
assistance (cash/kind) to political parties (partly/fully) for contesting
elections. The objective is to control and eliminate outside
pressure over govt. policies and functioning by vested interests.
• It will also help in controlling the flow of unaccounted money and
muscle power during elections and control the levels of corruption in
public life.
• There are two formats: direct and indirect state funding.
1. Direct funding means giving funds directly to political parties (or
candidates).
2. Indirect funding takes the form of various subsidies or access.
Indirect funding can take the form of subsidized or free media
access, tax benefits, free access to public spaces for campaign
material display etc.
Benefits of State Funding • Will reduce role of money power and muscle power in elections.
E
• Will provide level playing field to all parties as in present system
national parties get much more donations as compared to regional
OR
parties, which in turn affect their vote mobilization capacities.
• Will curb corruption and crony capitalism.
• It will also reduce use of black money. At present nearly 80% of party
funds are from unknown sources, state funding of elections will remove
this anomaly.
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• Will promote inner party democracy as ticket distribution will not

be decided on the basis of how much money an individual is able to
contribute to the party fund.
• Will ensure that good candidates are given tickets and this will
improve the quality of Indian democratic system, debate and legislative
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functioning.
• It may put pressure on government to go for simultaneous elections as
people may not like paying taxes for multiple elections and will put
pressure on government to do away with this.
• In the last general election, 55 crore votes were cast. So, at the rate of
Rs.100 per vote it comes to around Rs.5,500 crore that is not too high
for transparency and accountability.
45. Changes in Corporate Funding

Corporate Funding • Donation by corporate bodies is governed by the Companies Act,
2013. Section 182 of the Act provides that:
1. A company needs to be at least three years old since the date of
its existence to be able to donate to a political party.
2. Companies can donate a maximum of 7.5% of the average net
profits they made during three immediately preceding financial
years.
3. Such contribution must be disclosed in the profits and loss
accounts of the companies.
4. No contribution shall be made without obtaining the approval of
the board of directors by passing a resolution.
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5. If a company contravenes the provisions of this section, it may be
held liable to a pay fine which may extend up to five times the
amount contributed in default and every officer guilty of such
contravention may be imprisoned for a term which may extend to
six months and with fine which may extend up to five times the
amount contributed in default.
New Rules • The amendments to the Finance Bill 2017 propose to remove:
1. The limit of 7.5 percent of net profit of the last three financial
years, for contributions that a company may make to political
parties.
2. The requirement of a company to disclose the name of the political
party to which a contribution has been made.
3. This contribution can only be made through a cheque, bank draft,
electronic means, or an electoral bond.
4. The Companies Act would be amended to do away with the current
requirement to disclose the names of beneficiary political parties in
companies’ profit and loss statements. The amount of donation,
E
however, still needs to be disclosed.
46. NOTA in Elections

Introduction •
OR
The Supreme Court in Writ Petition directed to provide a NOTA option
on the EVM and ballot papers so that the electors who do not want to
vote for any of the candidates can exercise their option in secrecy.
• The Supreme Court held that the provisions of Rule 49-O under which
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an elector not wishing to vote for any candidate had to inform the
Presiding Officer about his decision, are ultra vires Article 19 of the
Constitution and Section 128 of the Representation of the People Act,
1951.
• Rule 49-O was a rule in the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 of
India, which governs elections in the country. It described the
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procedure to be followed when a valid voter decides not to cast his

vote, and decides to record this fact.
• 49-O states that if an elector, after his electoral roll number has been
duly entered in the register of voters in Form 17A and has put his
signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1)
of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall
be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer
and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained
against such remark.
Positive features in NOTA:
a) Voter’s participation is an essence of democracy. Introducing a
NOTA button can increase the public participation in an electoral
process.
b) NOTA option gives the voter the right to express his disapproval
with the kind of candidates that are being put up by the political
parties.
c) For democracy to survive, it is essential that the best available
men should be chosen as people’s representatives for proper
governance of the country. Thus in a vibrant democracy, the voter
must be given an opportunity to choose ‘None of the Above’
(NOTA) button, which will indeed compel the political parties to
nominate a sound candidate. This situation palpably tells us the
dire need of negative voting.
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Negative features in NOTA:
a) As per the provisions of clause (a) of Rule 64 of Conduct of
Elections Rules, 1961, read with Section 65 of the Representation
of the People Act, 1951, the candidate who has polled the largest
number of valid votes is to be declared elected by the Returning
Officer. NOTA do not mean rejection. That may sound self-
defeating to the whole point of NOTA but according to Indian
democracy the rule of first past the post is declared the winner.
Thus, if out of total 10,000 votes, 9999 voters elect NOTA option
and just one candidate gets even a single vote, then the candidate
wins from that constituency.
• NOTA can only work when it is paired with Right To Recall option
where voters can recall candidates they have elected. This will instill
fear in candidates to do well in office and also lead to giving NOTA
importance because it acts as a pre-cursor to public displeasure.
Currently, Right To Recall does not exist in the electoral process in
the country, which only weakens NOTA.
47. E- POSTAL BALLOTS
E
Context • The Government has issued Notification amending rule 23 of the
Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961 enabling service voters, including
OR
armed forces personnel, to cast their vote in elections through e-
postal ballot. In the past, two-way electronic transmission has not been
recommended by the Election Commission for security and secrecy
reasons.
Background • The difficulties and hardships encountered by the service voters,
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especially by the armed forces personnel serving the border and remote
areas of the country, have been receiving the attention of the
Government in recent times. The issue was also agitated before the
Hon’ble Supreme Court, pleading for creating effective mechanism
for the Armed Forces Personnel (AFP) and their families to exercise
their right to vote easily and effectively.
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• In the above backdrop, the Government approached the Election

Commission (EC) with a view to mitigating the difficulties faced by
service voters in the matter of exercising their franchise. The technical
team of the EC has developed a system whereby blank postal ballot
could be electronically transmitted to the voter, namely, e-postal ballot
system.
Who are the Beneficiaries? On a pilot basis, e-postal ballot system has been introduced for service
voters consisting of -
a) Armed police forces of the Union;
b) Other forces subject to the provisions of the Army Act, 1950;
c) Armed forces of a State serving outside that State; and
d) Those employed under the Government of India in a post outside
India.
How is e-Postal Ballot effective? • Under this system a blank postal ballot paper would be transmitted to
voters electronically. Voters entitled to postal ballot can download the
postal ballot and print the blank postal ballot. After marking his vote
in the blank postal ballot, the same would be returned to the concerned
Returning Officer by post as in the present system of postal ballot.
• This would cut short the delay experienced in the present system in
two-way transmission of ballot paper by the postal services.
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Opinion Polls
Opinion polls are often conducted by different organisations. The results of such opinion polls are published in
newspapers, magazines and other periodicals, and sometimes telecast/broadcast on the electronic media. The
dissemination of such results of Opinion Polls receives wide publicity and coverage in the print and electronic
media and such dissemination, particularly on the eve of polls, has the potential to influence the electors when they
are in the mental process of making up of their minds to vote or not to vote for a certain political party or a
candidate. The methodology followed by different organisations conducting such opinion polls varies from
organisation to organisation, or the agencies, conducting such polls. Similarly, the sample size of the electorate
covered by such polls and geographic spread of the survey also differs substantially in each case.
Exit Polls
Exit polls are conducted just after a candidate walks out after casting his or her vote. People are asked whom they
voted for. Their answers are definite, and therefore are considered as a better estimation of calculating the outcome
of an election in comparison to opinion polls.
48. Simultaneous Elections
E
• The Constitution of India has vested in the Election Commission of
India the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process
•
OR
for conduct of elections to Parliament and Legislature of every State
and to the offices of President and Vice-President of India.
However, frequent elections (for state and Centre), according to
experts, hamper long-term policymaking because every decision is
seen as reason for votes.
SC
Impact of Frequent Elections • The Model Code is enforced from the date of announcement of election
schedule by the Election Commission and is operational till the process
of elections is completed. During general elections to Lok Sabha, the
code is applicable throughout the country. During general elections to
the Legislative Assembly, the code is applicable in the entire State.
Once the Model Code of Conduct is in force, the government cannot
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announce grants, new schemes or projects, thus hampers governance.

• Elections lead to huge expenditures by various stakeholders. Every
year, the Government of India and/or respective State Governments
bear expenditures on account of conduct, control and supervision of
elections. Besides the Government, candidates contesting elections
and political parties also incur huge expenditures.
• Engagement of security forces for significantly prolonged periods.
• Frequent elections disrupt normal public life as holding of political
rallies disrupts road traffic and also leads to noise pollution.
• Frequent elections perpetuate caste, religion and communal issues
across the country.
What are the Benefits of • First and foremost stability in governance. This was even mentioned
Simultaneous Elections? in the 117th report on Reform and Electoral Laws (1999) by the Law
Commission of India.
• Second, it would reduce the massive expenditure that has been pegged
at around Rs.4,500 crore.
• Third, elections in states lead to the imposition of Model Code of
Conduct (MCC) puts on hold the entire development programme and
activities. If all elections are held in one particular year, it will give a
clear four years to the political parties to focus on good governance.
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• Fourth, continuous election has an impact on the functioning of essential
services. The rallies and the like do cause traffic problems as well as
loss of productivity.
• Finally simultaneous election they would reduce the type of manpower
and resource deployment necessary for the conduct of elections.
What are the Challenges in • India has a federal structure and a multi-party democracy where
Implementing Simultaneous elections are held for State Assemblies and the Lok Sabha separately;
Polls? the voters are better placed to express their voting choices keeping in
mind the two different governments which they would be electing by
exercising their franchise. This distinction gets blurred somewhat when
voters are made to vote for electing two types of government at the
same time, at the same polling booth, and on the same day. There is a
tendency among the voters to vote for the same party both for electing
the State government as well as the Central government. This is a rule
rather than an exception, not based on assumption but on evidence.
• Assembly elections are fought on local issues and, in the true spirit of
federalism, parties and leaders are judged in the context of their work
done in the state. Clubbing them with the general election could lead
to a situation where the national narrative submerges the regional story.
E
This could mean a regress for the federal character of the polity, which
is best avoided.
OR
• However, the biggest challenge to simultaneous polls lies in getting
all parties political consensus needed to bring an amendment in the
law.
49. Electoral Bonds Notified

SC
The Government of India has notified the Scheme of Electoral Bonds to

cleanse the system of political funding in the country.
The broad Features of the Scheme are given below:
Electoral Bond would be a bearer instrument in the nature of a Promissory
Note and an interest free banking instrument.
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A citizen of India or a body incorporated in India will be eligible to purchase

the bond.
Electoral Bond(s) would be issued/purchased for any value, in multiples
of Rs.1,000, Rs.10,000, Rs.1,00,000, Rs.10,00,000 and Rs.1,00,00,000
from the Specified Branches of the State Bank of India (SBI).
The purchaser would be allowed to buy Electoral Bond(s) only on due
fulfillment of all the extant KYC norms and by making payment from a
bank account. It will not carry the name of payee.
Electoral Bonds would have a life of only 15 days during which it can be
used for making donation only to the political parties registered under
section 29A of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951 (43 of 1951)
and which secured not less than one per cent of the votes polled in the last
general election to the House of the People or a Legislative Assembly.
The Electoral Bond(s) shall be encashed by an eligible political party only
through a designated bank account with the authorised bank.
Bearer instruments • A bearer instrument, or bearer bond, is a type of fixed-income security
where no ownership information is recorded and the security is issued
in physical form to the purchaser. The holder is presumed to be the
owner, and whoever is in possession of the physical bond is entitled
to the coupon payments.
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Promissory Note • A promissory note is a financial instrument that contains a written
promise by one party (the note’s issuer or maker) to pay another party
(the note’s payee) a definite sum of money, either on demand or at a
specified future date.
KYC norm • Know Your Customer, commonly known as KYC, enables a bank or
a financial institution in authenticating the identity of its customers.
This helps in prohibiting money-laundering activities and further
ensures that the deposits/investments are made in the name of a real
person and not fictitious one.
Representation of Peoples • It provides:
Act 1950 – The allocation of seats in, and the delimitation of constituencies
for the purpose of election to the House of the People and the
Legislatures of States;
o The qualification of voters at such elections;
o The methodology of preparation of electoral rolls;
o The manner of filling seats in the Council of States; and
E
o Matters connected therewith.
Representation of Peoples • It provides:
Act 1951
OR
– Methodology for the conduct of elections of the Houses of
Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Legislature of each
State;
o The qualifications and disqualifications for membership of
those Houses;
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o The corrupt practices and other offences at or in connection
with such elections; and
o The decision on doubts and disputes arising out of or in
connection with elections.
Why needed? • The conventional system of political funding is to rely on donations.
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These donations, big or small, come from a range of sources from

political workers, sympathisers, small business people and even large
industrialists. The conventional practice of funding the political system
was to take donations in cash and undertake these expenditures in
cash. The sources are anonymous or pseudonymous. The quantum of
money was never disclosed. The present system ensures unclean
money coming from unidentifiable sources. It is a wholly non-
transparent system. Most political groups seem fairly satisfied with
the present arrangement and would not mind this status-quo to continue.
The effort, therefore, is to run down any alternative system which is
devised to cleanse up the political funding mechanism.
50. Lateral Entry into Civil Services

Context: • On the recommendation of Committee of Secretaries, the Department
of Personnel & Training (DoPT) has been instructed to put up a
proposal for lateral entry of outsiders into the civil services. The
induction of outsiders is for the middle rung of ministries that deal
with economy and infrastructure.
The Flaws in Indian System are: • The assurance of a secure career path has been held to be the career-
based system’s biggest lacuna.
• The weakness in practice is seen to have been compounded by a heavy
reliance on seniority, an inadequate annual reporting system and
frequent transfers.
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• It has discouraged initiative by reducing competition in the higher
echelons of government. It has been difficult not only for highly
qualified persons from outside government, but also for high
performers from other services to get selected for top civil service
positions.
• It has also been alleged that the quasi-monopolistic hold of the career
civil services on senior management position breeds complacency,
inhibits innovative thinking and prevents the inflow of new ideas from
outside the government.
About the Proposal • In the recent decision, PMO instructed DoPT to prepare a broad outline
of modalities for selecting private individuals for appointment in the
ranks of deputy secretary, director and joint secretary.
• The move came in response to a central government staffing policy
paper where the DoPT had indicated a huge shortage of officers in the
middle management level,
• The preliminary estimate is that around 40 individuals, including
successful entrepreneurs, academicians and social workers, would be
taken in through lateral entry, mainly at the joint-secretary level where
there is a dearth of officers.
E
• These appointments would not be for regulating ministries such as
Home, Defence, Personnel or even Corporate Affairs.
OR
Need for Lateral Entry • It is both a workaround for the civil services’ structural failings and an
antidote to the complacency that can set in a career-based service.
• The second ARC report points out that it is both possible and desirable
to incorporate elements of a position-based system where lateral entry
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and specialization are common. These are not entirely new in India.
Examples • Domain experts have been brought in from outside the services to
head various committees, advisory bodies and organizations. Nandan
Nilekani, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Vijay Kelkar, Arvind Subramanian
and Raghuram Rajan are all cases in point. Both the Niti Aayog and
the Planning Commission before it, have allowed for lateral entry.
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And some states such as Jharkhand are now experimenting with it as

well.
EXCELLENCE in Governance Awards
• On Gandhi Jayanti 2017, in the 70th year of India’s Independence, The Express Group has launched the
Indian Express Excellence in Governance Awards to acknowledge Excellence in Governance at the level
where it matters and counts the most — the district through pioneering work done by the District Magistrate.
• These awards will celebrate District Magistrates from across India, who have best scripted and/or implemented
change that has touched men, women and children, change that has improved life literally on the ground,
brought about by officers, the genuine ambassadors of good Governance in their districts.
• This biennial awards will highlight their work and will also aim to spread best practices across state governments,
share innovation, ensure transparency, leadership and learning. The award will honor individuals by celebrating
their systems and processes that fundamentally alter the interface between citizens, their representatives and
public servants.
51. DP singh UGC Chairman

• The Government decided to elevate the Director of National Assessment
and Accreditation Council (NAAC), DP Singh, as the new Chairman
of the University Grants Commission (UGC). The Commission is
mandated to realise the twin objectives of allocating funds for university
development as well as to promote quality of teaching and research.
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• Dhirendra Pal Singh, better known as D.P. Singh, is an Indian naturalist
and academic administrator. He has served as vice-chancellor of three
different universities, namely Dr. Hari Singh Gour University, Banaras
Hindu University and Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya.
• UGC
– The University Grants Commission (UGC) of India is a statutory
body set up in 1956, and is charged with coordination,
determination and maintenance of standards of higher education.
– Previously, UGC was formed in 1946 to oversee the work of the
three Central Universities of Aligarh, Banaras and Delhi. In 1947,
a Committee was entrusted with the responsibility of dealing with
all the then existing Universities.
– After independence, the University Education Commission was
set up in 1948 under the Chairmanship of S. Radhakrishnan and
it recommended that the UGC be reconstituted on the general
model of the University Grants Commission of the United
Kingdom.
E
– The UGC was however, formally established in November 1956,
by an Act of Parliament as a statutory body of the Government of
India.
–
OR
Important functions performed by the Commission:
– It provides recognition to universities in India.
It oversees distribution of grants to universities and colleges in
India.
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– It provides scholarships/fellowships to beneficiaries.
– It monitors conformity to its regulations by universities and
colleges.
52. Go Green Initiative in Parliament and State Assemblies

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• The Central Government is proposing a shift to paperless, digitized

working in Parliament and State legislatures to bring its “Go Green
Initiative”.
• Going paperless and achieving more automation in State legislatures
and Parliament is part of the current government’s Digital India plans.
• Over the past few years, the Union government has cut down on printing
of hard copies of parliamentary documents and reports.
• In 2016, the government more than halved the number of printed
Budget copies from the previous figure of 5,100.
• In 2017, on Budget day, only Members of Parliament got hard copies
as the Finance Ministry put the Budget speech and proposals on its
websites within minutes of Finance Minister concluded it.
• Apart from saving on costs and paper, going paperless in Parliament
and State Legislatures is “responsive, transparent, productive and more
accountable to the public.”
53. National Register of Citizens in Assam

Context Assam first National Register of Citizens has been published with names
of 1.9 crore people as state’s legal citizens. The NRC, for which a total of
3.29 crore people had filed an application, is aimed at identifying illegal
immigrants in the state. The unpublished names are still under stages of
verification.
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• About Assam
– Situated south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra
and Barak River valleys.
– The first oil well in Asia was drilled in Assam.
– Majuli world’s largest river island is in Assam
– One-horned Rhino in Kaziranga National Park.
– Longest bridge of India – Dhola Sadiya bridge is on Lohit river
• About NRC
– The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is the register containing
names of Indian CITIZENS.
– National Register of Citizens (NRC) was prepared first in 1951
after the conduct of the Census of 1951
– The NRC will be now updated to include the names of those
persons (or their descendants) who appear in the NRC, 1951, or
in any of the Electoral Rolls up to the midnight of 24th March,
1971 or in any one of the other admissible documents issued up
to midnight of 24th March, 1971, which would prove their
E
presence in Assam or in any part of India on or before 24th March,
1971.
OR
– All the names appearing in the NRC, 1951, or any of the Electoral
Rolls up to the midnight of 24th March 1971 together are called
Legacy Data. Thus, there will be two requirements for inclusion
in updated NRC – 1.) existence of a person’s name in the pre-
1971 period & 2.) providing linkage with that person.
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– The provisions governing NRC update in Assam are The

Citizenship Act, 1955, and The Citizenship (Registration of
Citizens and Issue of National Identity cards) Rules,2003.
– The demands to update the NRC of 1951 were first raised by the
All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and Assam Gana Parishad
more than three decades ago. The organisations had submitted a
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memorandum to the Centre on January 18, 1980, two months

after launching the anti-illegal foreigners Assam Movement. On
November 17, 1999, at an official-level tripartite meeting to review
the implementation of the Assam Accord, a decision was taken
that the NRC would be updated and the Centre sanctioned Rs 20
lakh for the purpose and released Rs 5 lakh of it to start the exercise.
Later, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led government took the
final decision to update NRC on May 5, 2005. Thereafter, the
government created a directorate for updating the NRC and the
process of computerisation of the voters’ list up to 1971 and the
NRC of 1951 began.
• The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National
Identity cards) Rules, 2003
– It states that for the formation of National Register of Indian
Citizens (1) The Registrar General of Citizen Registration shall
establish and maintain the National Register of Indian Citizens.
(2) The National Register of Indian Citizens shall be divided into
sub-parts consisting of the State Register of Indian Citizens, the
District Register of Indian Citizens, the Sub-district Register of
Indian Citizens and the Local Register of Indian Citizens and shall
contain such details as the Central Government may, by order, in
consultation with the Registrar General of Citizen Registration,
specify.
56
• The Citizenship Act, 1955
– This act mentions four ways in which a person may be Indian
citizen viz. by birth, by descent, by registration and by
naturalization. Citizenship by birth and descent are called natural
citizens.
54. Nagaland Declared as Disturbed Area for 6 More Months

The entire Nagaland has been declared as “disturbed area” for six more
months, till June- end, under the controversial AFSPA, which empowers
security forces to conduct operations anywhere and arrest anyone without
any prior notice.
The Union Home Ministry said it is of the opinion that the area comprising
the whole of Nagaland is in such a “disturbed and dangerous condition”
that use of armed forces in aid of the civil power is necessary. A home
ministry official said the decision to continue the declaration of Nagaland
as “disturbed area” has been taken as killings, loot and extortion have
been going in various parts of the state which necessitated the action for
E
the convenience of the security forces operating there.
• Disturbed Area Definition
–
OR
Any area which is declared ‘’disturbed’’ under disturbed areas
act enables armed forces to resort to the provisions of AFSPA.
The choice of declaring any area as ‘disturbed’ vests both with
state and central government. After an area comes under the ambit
of AFSPA, any commissioned officer, warrant officer, non-
SC
commissioned officer or another person of equivalent rank can
use force for a variety of reasons while still being immune to the
prosecution.
• Power of Declaration
– Power to Declare Areas to be Disturbed Areas lies to the Governor
GS
of that State or the Administrator of that Union territory or the

Central Government, in either case, if of the opinion that the whole
or any part of such State or Union territory, as the case may be, is
in such a disturbed or dangerous condition that the use of armed
forces in aidof the civil powers in necessary, the Governor of that
State or the Administrator of that Union territory or the Central
Government, as the case may be, may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, declare the whole or such part of such State or
Union territory to be a disturbed area.
• What are the provisions of AFSPA?
– The “armed forces” may shoot to kill or destroy a building on
mere suspicion. A non-commissioned officer or anyone of
equivalent rank and above may use force based on opinion and
suspicion, to arrest without warrant, or to kill. He can fire at anyone
carrying anything that may be used as a weapon, with only “such
due warning as he may consider necessary”. Once AFSPA is
implemented, “no prosecution… shall be instituted except with
the previous sanction of the central government, in respect of
anything done or purported to be done” under this Act.
55. Arunachal Pradesh: Open Defecation Free

Arunachal Pradesh emerged as the second state in the Northeast, after
Sikkim, to be declared Open Defecation Free.
57
• Meaning of Open defecation
– Open defecation refers to the practice whereby people go out in
fields, bushes, forests, open bodies of water, or other open spaces
rather than using the toilet to defecate. The practice is rampant in
India and the country is home to the world’s largest population of
people who defecate in the open and excrete close to 65,000
tonnes of faeces into the environment each day.
– Open defecation poses a serious threat to the health of children in
India. The practice is the main reason India reports the highest
number of diarrhoeal deaths among children under-five in the world.
– Every year, diarrhoea kills 1,17,285 children under five in India.
Children weakened by frequent diarrhoea episodes are more
vulnerable to malnutrition, stunting, and opportunistic infections
such as pneumonia.
– Diarrhoea and worm infection are two major health conditions
that affect school-age children impacting their learning abilities.
Open defecation also puts at risk the dignity of women in India.
Women feel constrained to relieve themselves only under the cover
of dark for reasons of privacy to protect their dignity.
E
– Open defecation exposes women to the danger of physical attacks
and encounters such as snake bites. Poor sanitation also cripples
OR
national development: workers produce less, live shorter lives,
save and invest less, and are less able to send their children to
school.
• Open defecation free definition
SC
– ODF is the termination of faecal-oral transmission, defined by a)

no visible faeces found in the environment/village; and b) every
household as well as public/community institutions using [a] safe
technology option for disposal of faeces.
– {A] safe technology option means no contamination of surface
soil, ground water or surface water; excreta inaccessible to flies
GS
or animals; no handling of fresh excreta; and freedom from odour

and unsightly condition.
– Open defecation free states are: Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and
Haryana, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh.
• WASH in Health Centres
– UNICEF in India is working in collaboration with the Health
ministry to map WASH compliance in health facilities in the most
deprived districts and is making recommendations to address non-
compliance.
– The WASH section works with state governments to identify where
institutions need capacity-building. For example, it is helping
reform State Water and Sanitation Missions to become responsive
when they are in mission mode.
56. Bal doctors

• The health department of Gujarat has introduced the concept of Bal
(child) doctors in an attempt to spread awareness about health and
hygiene among school children in government school
• According to officials of the health department, there will be one ‘Bal’
doctor for around 30 students. The student doctor’s task will be to
monitor the health of children and spread awareness
58
• landing on the far side of the moon is undoubtedly one of the most
challenging missions ever launched by any of the world’s superpowers.
The far side of the moon known as ‘South Pole-Aitken Basin’still
remains a mystery among space scientists and by sending a probe
there, China will outdo the historical achievements of the US and USSR.
• Responsibilities of Bal Doctors
– The Bal Doctors will be equipped with stethoscopes and medicines
which they will dispense to their classmates
– The Bal Doctors will be given a stock of Ayurvedic medicines to
deal with any health related issue
– These Bal Doctors will give Ayurvedic treatment in cases of minor
diseases
– They will encourage other students to wash their hands before
mid-day meal
– They will also monitor Weekly Iron and Folic Acid
Supplementation (WIFS) Programme (of the National Health
E
Mission) which is held every Wednesday
– They will work to make their fellow students addiction-free and
– OR
give primary information about seasonal diseases
The Bal Doctor will be given an apron and badge so that he looks
like a doctor and will be additionally given a torch, Ayurvedic
medicine kit, booklets and posters of health-related problems
SC
– He will also be trained under a Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram
(RBSK) of the health department
57. Gandikota-chitravathi Project

• Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh inaugurated the Gandikota-
Chitravathi lift irrigation scheme at Parnapalli in Pulivendula
GS
constituency of Kadapa district.

• Under the scheme, 7.50 tmcft water would be lifted through five
delivery points to the Chitravathi balancing reservoir, to irrigate 60,000
acres of ayacut through drip irrigation and gravity.
• Nearly 1,200 cusecs Krishna water was being lifted every day from
Gandikota reservoir
• Gandikota River
– Gandikota is a village on the right bank of the river Pennar, 15
km from Jammalamadugu in Kadapa district, Andhra Pradesh,
India.
– Gandikota was ruled by powerful Telugu dynasty, the Pemmasani
Dynasty and was one of the most prominent forts in the country
• Chitravathi river
– The Chitravathi is an inter-state river in southern India that is a
tributary of the Pennar River. Rising in Karnataka, it flows into
Andhra Pradesh and its basin covers an area of over 5,900 km2.
The pilgrim town of Puttaparthi is located on its banks.
– The river joins the Pennar at Gandikota in Kadapa district where
the Gandikota irrigation project is being undertaken by the
Government of Andhra Pradesh as part of its Jalayagnam project.
59
58. 'COMMIT' Training Programme

• Government has launched a new training programme Comprehensive
Online Modified Modules on Induction Training (COMMIT) for State
Government officials.
• The objective of this training programme is to improve the public
service delivery mechanism and provide citizen centric administration
through capacity building of officials who interact with the citizens on
day-to-day basis.
• The new training programme will supplement the earlier training
programme and the advantage of COMMIT is that it is cost effective
and has the potential to cover about 3.3 lakh officials annually,
compared to 10,000 officials under existing 12-Day Induction Training
Programme (ITP).
• The COMMIT programme, developed by DoPT in collaboration with
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will supplement
the existing 12-Day ITP launched in 2014-15 for newly recruited State
Government officials to develop in them Generic & Domain specific
competencies.
E
• The programme will cover approximately 74,000 State Government
officials in the financial year 2017-18. It will be of 28 hours duration
OR
which will include e-Modules for 20 hours and face-to-face training
for 8 hours. The 20 hours e-training would be imparted through
specifically developed 12 Generic and 3 Domain specific e-Modules.
• The modules on soft skills will be delivered as e-Modules & through
face-to-face training, and the domain modules will be covered through
SC
e-Modules only. The programme will be implemented through State

Administrative Training Institutes (ATIs).
59. Cooperative Movement in India

• A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united
voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs
GS
and aspiration through a jointly owned and democratically controlled

enterprise.
• Cooperatives as business enterprise posses some basic interests such
as ownership and control but these interests are directly vested in the
hands of the user.
• Therefore, the need for profitability is balanced by the needs of the
members and the wider interest of the community.
Basic principles:
(1) A co-operative is a voluntary form of organization.
(2) It is an association of human beings organized on the basis of equality.
(3) Its objective is the economic interests of its members.
Constitutional Provisions
• Part IV, Article 43 as a Directive Principle enjoins the State Government to promote cottage industry on a
individual or cooperative basis in rural areas.
• It is a State Subject under entry No. 32 (7th schedule) of the State list of the Constitution of India.
• Right to form cooperatives can also be construed as a Fundamental Right, Article 14 (Right to Equality) and
Article 19(1) (c) as 'Right to form Associations or Unions’.
• Part IXB (added through 97th AA).
60
a) It makes Right to form cooperatives a fundamental right.
b) Reservation of one seat for SC/ST and two seats for women on the board of every co-operative society.
c) Cooperatives could set up agency which would oversee election.
d) Uniformity in the tenure of Cooperative’s Board of Directors.
e) Provisions for incorporation, regulation and winding up of co-operative societies based on the principles of
democratic process and specifying the maximum number of directors as twenty-one.
f) Providing for a fixed term of five years from the date of election in respect of the elected members of the
board and its office bearers.
g) Providing for a maximum time limit of six months during which a board of directors of co-operative society
could be kept under suspension.
h) Providing for independent professional audit.
i) Providing for right of information to the members of the co-operative societies.
j) Empowering the State Governments to obtain periodic reports of activities and accounts of co-operative
societies; which have individuals as members from such categories.
k) Providing for offences relating to co-operative societies and penalties in respect of such offences.
E
60. Umbrella Scheme of Police Modernization
•
OR
To improve the availability of police hardware (i.e., vehicles,
computers, communication equipments, security gadgets, etc.) in the
states, the federal Ministry of Home Affairs is operating a police
modernization scheme under which the financial resources are
transferred to the state police departments through the respective state
SC
governments for the procurement of such equipments/gadgets. This
financial assistance to the fund-starved state police departments is
supposed to play a crucial role in improving police efficiency in the
country.
• In a recent move, Government of India (GoI) has approved a Rs 25,000
crore internal security scheme to strengthen the law and order apparatus,
GS
to modernise state police forces and enhance their capacity to combat

terrorism. The umbrella scheme, Modernisation of Police Forces (MPF),
will be implemented between 2017 and 2020.
• The scheme has special provisions for women's security, mobility of
police forces, logistical support, hiring of helicopters, upgradation of
police wireless, satellite communications, crime and criminal tracking
network and systems (CCTNS) and e-prisons. The idea is to assist the
states to upgrade their police infrastructure, especially in respect of
transport, communications and forensic support, to enable them to
effectively tackle the emerging challenges.
61. MPLAD Funds

• Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme,
was introduced in 1993. It empowers every Member of Parliament
(MP) to spend a certain sum of amount on the development of his/her
constituency on various social development areas such as health,
education, drinking water, electricity, family welfare, sanitations and
so on.
• The main purpose was creation of durable community assets and for
provision of basic facilities including community infrastructure, based
on local requirements.
• The scheme essentially entitles every MP (Lok Sabha as well as Rajya
Sabha) to recommend spending Rs. 5 crore every year on works of
development nature.
61
• The MPs can recommend the work(s) in their constituency (in case of
Lok Sabha) or anywhere in the state from where they are elected (in
case of Rajya Sabha).
• The ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has been
designated as the nodal agency to coordinate the work and to conduct
Internet audit of the work carried out by the public representatives.
The ministry compiles the data of the utilization of the fund based
upon the inputs provided by the concerned.
62. Public Financial Management System

• Public Financial Management System (PFMS) is a web-based online
transaction system for fund management and e-payment to
implementing agencies and other beneficiaries. In December, 2014
decision was taken to enhance the use of PFMS (earlier known as
CPSMS) as a single platform for payment, accounting & reconciliation
of govt. transactions by integrating various existing standalone systems.
• The primary objective of PFMS is to establish an efficient fund flow
system and expenditure network. PFMS also provides various
stakeholders with a reliable and meaningful management information
E
system and an effective decision support system. Now an online
payment and accounting system is being introduced through this portal
for all non-plan expenditure. The payment process in PFMS starts at
OR
Programme Division level. It moves further through Drawings &
Disbursing Officer to Pay & Accounts Office for making payment
directly to bank account of beneficiary.
• Government has made use of PFMS mandatory for Central Schemes.
SC
63. Central Vigilance Commission

In the Transparency International rankings for 2011, India was placed 95th
among the 183 countries rated. Corruption flourishes in India because it is
perceived to be a low risk, high profit business. In service delivery, there is
lack of transparency in rules and procedures, and significant delays in
operations or functioning. The lack of transparency provides an opportunity
GS
for public servants to mislead citizens who have to transact business with
them, and extract bribes. Certainly, the size of India's parallel economy (or
black market), estimated at 40% of GDP, provides fertile ground for
corruption to flourish. Equally important, the corrupt face little deterent.
There are enormous delays in the prosecution of cases in courts. What is
worse, the conviction rate is hardly 6% in criminal cases.
Thus to propagate the idea of zero tolerance for corruption the Central
Vigilance Commission was set up by the Government in February, 1964
on the recommendations of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption,
headed by Shri K. Santhanam, to advise and guide Central Government
agencies in the field of vigilance.
CVC is conceived to be the apex vigilance institution, free of control from
any executive authority, monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central
Government and advising various authorities in Central Government
organizations in planning, executing, reviewing and reforming their
vigilance work.
CVC is a multi member body consisting of a central Vigilance Commissioner
and not more than two vigilance commissioners. They are appointed by
the President by warrant under his hand and seal on the recommendation
of a three member committee consisting of the Prime Minister as its head,
the Union Minister of Home Affairs and the Leader of the Opposition in
the Lok Sabha.
62
The jurisdiction of CVC extends to members of All india Services; officers
of scale V and above in public sector banks; officers in D Grade in RBI,
NABARD and SIDBI, Managers in Insurance companies etc.
E
OR
SC
GS
63

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An Institute for Civil Services

1. Concept of PIO, OCI and NRI

• If a person remain an OCI for 5 years, he can attain Indian citizenship

2. Voting Rights to NRI

Advantages • This decision will remove an unreasonable restriction posed by Section

3. Aadhar - Right to Privacy

Aadhar and Right to Privacy

contained only four elements: name, gender, age and communication

• Custody of minor children: A Muslim woman against whom such

criminal offence may be misused to harass Muslim men as it happened in

5. Uniform Civil Code

6. Justice Verma Committee Report on Marital Rape

guarantees the equal protection of laws to all persons.

8. National Anthem - No More Mandatory in Cinema Halls

• However, in the recent verdict, the Supreme Court bench of Chief

9. Child Labour Convention Ratified

10. Special Schools for Minorities and Tribals

11. Bill on Mob Violence

12. RTE Amendment Bill Passed

• Those living in rural areas would be taught through Swayam Prabha

13. Anti Racial Discrimination Provisions in IPC

14. Election of the President

15. Office of Profit

for violating the Constitution.

16. Types of CAG Audit

• Entrusted audits, e.g. those of Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban

their role as change agents and lists out potential priorities.

18. Reforms in Parliamentary Functioning

• Delimitation under 2002 Act, has increased Scheduled Caste (78 to

20. Concept of Whip

21. Motion of Thanks

• After the reply of the PM is over, the Members of Parliament vote on

22. Privileges to MPs

24. Money Bill

25. Ethics Committee in Parliament

26. Parliamentary Committees

scrutinize the appropriation account of the Government of India

27. Disqualification of Rajya Sabha Members

term was to expire early next year.

d) Composite Floor Test

29. NJAC Vs. COLLEGIUM

30. National Court of Appeal

31. INTER-STATE WATER DISPUTE REDRESSAL MECHANISM

• The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal was set up in 2010.

b) Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal

ongoing projects and future projects in the upper catchment of

32. Initiatives to Enhance Judicial System

The applicant shall have to deposit the fee indicated by the

• As per the scheme, contingent fund will be created to meet the

available at the Common Service Centres (CSC).

33. All India Judicial Services

the SC and HCs. In the existing system, recruits join as magistrates in

35. Centre for Vulnerable in High Court

vulnerable witnesses deposition centres in the jurisdiction of every

36. Allahabad High Court Judge to be Impeached

– A motion for presenting an address to the President praying for

37. Terms in News

1. The acts must be intended to have the “effect of subverting the

which the legislature ought to have done earlier. Judicial Overreach

scrutiny on the Court’s part’.

• Master of the Roster: ‘Master of the Roster’ refers to the privilege

cases to the Benches so constituted.”

38. Cooperative Federalism

Investigating and discussing subjects in which some or all of the States,