1/26/13

Civil Services Exam - Revison notes on Indian Constitution

Subscribe to our e-newsletter

For news on updations, exam notifications etc.!

Email:
HOME MBA - CA T, MA T, XA T, IIFT ETC. NDA , CDS EXA MS CIVIL SERVICES & OTHER UPSC EXA MS BA NK PO & CLERK RECRUITMENT EXA MS

Search

Subscribe
TEST OF REA SONING PRA CTICE TESTS QA PRA CTICE TESTS GENERA L KNOWLEDGE

INDIAN CONSTITUTION
U P SC E XA M S H I ST O RY NO TES - 1 H I ST O RY - P RE H I ST O RI C A N D V E D I C C I V I L I SA T I O N H I ST O RY - M U G H A L E M P I RE - 1 H I ST O RY - M U G H A L E M P I RE - 2 H I ST O RY - M U G H A L E M P I RE - 3 H I ST O RY - M U G H A L E M P I RE - 4 H I ST O RY A D M I N I ST RA T I O N U N D E R A KBA R H I ST O RY - M A G A D H A N A SC E N D A N C Y A N D BE Y O N D H I ST O RY - M A U RY A E M P I RE H I ST O RY - J A I N I SM A N D BU D D H I SM H I ST O RY - I M P E RI A L GU P T A S H I ST O RY - T RA D E & C O M M E RC E I N A NC IENT INDIA INDIA N C O N ST I T U T I O N U P SC E XA M S G E O G RA P H Y N O T E S - 1

Idea for a C onstituent Assembly for drafting a con stitution for India was first provided by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1895. The elections for the first C onstituent Assembly were held in July 1946. Ini tially it had 389 members, but later the reformed Assembly had 324 members. The State of Hydrabad did not participate in elections to the C onstituent Assembly. The first meeting of C onstituent Assembly was held on December 9, 1946 its president was Dr Sacchi danand Sinha. The second meeting was held on December 11, 1946. Its president was Dr Rajendra Prasad. The Objectives Reso lution was passed under chairmanship of J.L. Nehru. The Draft of Indian C onstitution was presented in October 1947. President of the Drafting C ommittee was Bhim Rao Ambedkar. The Flag C ommittee worked under J.B. Kripalani. The total time con sumed to prepare the draft was 2 years, 11 months, 18 days. Total 11 meetings were held for this. The Indian C onstitu was enacted on Novem 26, 1946 and put into force on January 26, 1950. tion ber The C onstitution today has 444 Articles and 12 schedules. Originally there were 395 Articles and 8 schedules. SOC IALIST, SEC U LAR, INTEGRITYthese words were added to the Preamble later, through the 42nd Amendment, 1976. The Preamble con tains aims and objectives of our C onstitution. Fundament Rights are contained in Part III called Magna C arta of the C onstitution. The idea was borrowed from USA. Initial there were 7 fundamental rights, now there are only 6. (The Right to ly Property was deleted by the 44th amendent in 1978. It is now a judicial rightit has been moved to m Article 300(A).)
C U RRE N T A FFA I RS

The Supreme C ourt judgement in Keshwanand Bharti vs Kerala case provid that Fundamental ed Rights can be altered by the Parliaent as long as the basic structure of the C onstitution remains m intact. The Minerva Mills case ruling of the Supreme C ourt, however, ruled that Fundamental rights are basic part of the C onstitution. The power to alter them was snatched away. Fundamental Right of Equality provides for: Equality in governent jobs (Article 16). m No discriminations (Article 15). No untouchability (Article 17). Abolition of titles (Article 18). The important free doms granted are: Against exploitation (Article 23). Against child labour (Article 24). The Right to C onsti tutional Remedies is provid under Article 32. ed The C onstitution provides that High C ourts and the Supreme C ourt can issue various writs (written orders) to safeguard free dom of an individual. There are five types of writs: Habeas C orpusmay I have the bodyit orders to present reasons as well as physical presence of a body in court, within 24 hours of arrest. Mandamusissued to person, office or courtto enforce dutiesalso called Param Aadesh. Prohibitionissued to inferior courts, by superior courtsit prohibits (stops) action of acts outside their jurisdiction. Quo Warrantoit asks how one has gained unau thorised office. C ertiorari Higher C ourt takes over case from lower courts. Dr Ambedkar has called this article as soul of the C onstitution. Directive Principles of State Policy act as guide lines or morals for the gov e rnment. They are contained in Part IV of the C onstitu tion. They were borrowed from Ireland. Some impor directive principles tant are:

C U RRE N T G E N E RA L KN O WL E D G E EV ENTS SP O RT S C A RE E R I N FO P E RSO N A L I T Y D E V E L O P M E N T D E BA T E E SSA Y A RT I C L E FE A T U RE C O V E R FE A T U RE

www.competitionmaster.com/Category.aspx?ID=89f1250a-a303-426e-beef-95edf984a8bf

1/3

1/26/13

are: Gram Panchayats (Article 40). Uniform civil code (Article 44). Free and compulsory education (Article 45).

Civil Services Exam - Revison notes on Indian Constitution

Fundamental duties are contained in part IV(A). There are ten fundamental duties listed in the C onstitu tion. This idea was borrowed from Russia. The Vice President is the C hairman of the Rajya Sabha. However, he is not a member of any House. If a member is found sitting in another House of Parliament, of which he is not a member, he has to pay a fine of Rs 5000. Rajya Sabha has 250 members238 elected and 12 nominated by the Presi dent. Uttar Pradesh elects maximum number of mem bers for the Rajya Sabha (34), followed by Bihar (22) and Maharashtra (19). In one year time, the President must hold at least two meetings of the Rajya Sabha. If a state of Emer gency is declared, the Lok Sabha is dissolved, but not the Rajya Sabha (It is a per manent House). Lok Sabha has 547 members545 elected and 2 nominated from the Anglo-Indian C ommunity. During a state of emergency, the tenure of Lok Sabha can be extended by a maximum of one year. Maximum number of members of Lok Sabha are elected from Uttar Pradesh (80 members), followed by Bihar (54) and Maharashtra (48). Minimum age for becoming member of Lok Sabha is 25 years and Rajya Sabha is 30 years. Minimum age to be eligible for the post of the President is 35 years. The President is elected by members of both Houses of Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies. The Vice President is elected by all members of the Parliament. To discuss an impor topic, the normal proce tant dure of the Parliament is stopped under the Adjourn ment motion. Decision about whe a Bill is a Money Bill or not is taken by the Lok Sabha Speaker. ther The first High C ourts in India were estab lished at Bombay, C alcutta, and Madras, in 1862. Alla habad and Delhi were estab lished next in 1866. Maximum age to remain a High C ourt judge is 62 years and maximum age to remain a Supreme C ourt judge is 65 years. The process for removal of C omptroller and Auditor General of India is same as that of judges of the Supreme C ourt. Attorney General is the law expert to governent. He can participate and speak in both Houses of m Par liament, but is not allowed to vote. The idea of having a Lokpal to check corruption at the highest level has been borrowed from Ombudsan of Sweden. In the States, we have the Lok Ayuk m ta. There are three types of Emergencies that can be proclaimed by the President. Emergency under Article 352due to war or internal rebellion. (Implemented three times (1962, 71, 75).) Emergency under Article 356C onstitutional prob lems. (Implemented many times, in various States like J&K, Punjab, etc.) Emergency under Article 360Financial Emergency. (Not implemented so far). The C onstitution ini tially recognised 14 National Languages. Later, four more were added. These were: Sindhi (21st amendment), Nepali, Konkani and Manipuri (71st amendment). To gain the status of a National Party, a political party must be recognised in four or more States, attaining at least 4% votes on national scale and 9% in each State. The flag of the C on gress party was accepted as the National Flag (with few changes) on July 22, 1947. The new Flag C ode of India gives freedom to individuals to hoist the flag on all days, but with due respect to the flag. The Question hour in the Parliament is observed from 11 am to 12 noon. The Zero hour is observed from 12:00 noon to 1:00 pm. Balwant Rai Mehta C ommittee suggested a three-tier structure for Pan chayati RajGram Pancha y at village level, Panchayat Samiti at block level and Zila Parishad in districts. First C onstitutional Amendment1951put a ban on propagating ideas to harm friendly relations with foreign countries. Planning C ommis is only an advisory and specialist body. Its chairman is the Prime Minister. sion National Developent C ouncil is the main body concerned with the actual planning process. Its m chairman is also the Prime Minister. The first leader of the Opposition was Ram Subhag Singh, in 1969. The shortest Lok Sabha span was 13 days (12th Lok Sabha in 1998). Although the Parliaent can pass impeachment motion against judges, their conduct cannot be m

www.competitionmaster.com/Category.aspx?ID=89f1250a-a303-426e-beef-95edf984a8bf

2/3

1/26/13

Although the Parliaent can pass impeachment motion against judges, their conduct cannot be m discussed by it. There are at present 18 High C ourts in India. Article 370 gives special status to Jammu & Kashmir. The Indian C onsti tution was the first of the preceding two centuries which was not imposed by an imperial power, but was made by the people them selves, through representa tives in a C onstituent Assembly. The Preamble of the Indian C onstitution is not enforceable in a court of law. It states the objects which the C onstitution seeks to establish. The Indian C onstitu endows the Judiciary with power of declaring a law as unconstitutional if it is tion beyond the competence of the Legislature according to the distribution of powers provided by the C onstitu tion, or if it is in contraven of the fundamental rights or of any other mandatory provision, tion e.g. Articles 286, 299, 301 and 304. As part of the inte gration of various Indian States into the Dominion of India a three-fold process of integration, known as the Patel Scheme, was impleented. m (i) 216 States were merged into the respective Provinces, geographically contiguous to them. These merged States were included in the territories of the States in Part B in the First Sche dule of the C onstitution. The process of merger started with the merger of Orissa and C hattisgarh States with the then province of Orissa, on January 1, 1948. The last instance was merger of C ooch-Behar with West Ben in January 1950. gal (ii) 61 States were con v erted into C entrally-admin istered areas and included in Part C of the First Schedule. (iii) The third form was consolidation of groups of States into new viable units, known as Union of States. The first Union formed was the Saurashtra Union on February 15, 1948. The last one was Union of Travan core-C ochin on July 1, 1949. As many as 275 States were integrated into five Unions Madhya Bharat, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Rajasthan, Saurashtra and Travancore-C ochin. These were included in Part B of the First Sche dule. Besides, Hyderabad, J&K and Mysore were also included in Part B. At the time of acces to the Dominion of India, the States had acceded only on three subjects sion (Defence, Foreign Affairs and C ommunications). Lat revised Instruments of Accession were signed e r, by which all States acceded in respect of all matters includ in Union and C oncurrent Lists, except ed only those relat to taxation. ing The process of inte gration culminated in the C onstitution (7th Amendent) Act, 1956, which abol m ished Part B States as a class and included all the States in Part A and B in one list.

Civil Services Exam - Revison notes on Indian Constitution

HOME

C opyright 2013 . The C ompetition Master

about us | contact us | advertise with us| privacy policy

Web Site designed and maintained by TekMantra

www.competitionmaster.com/Category.aspx?ID=89f1250a-a303-426e-beef-95edf984a8bf

3/3