Polity

. The cabinet, a small body consisting of the prime minister as its head and some 15 to 20 most important ministers, is the highest decision-making body in the formal sense. However, a still smaller body called the ‘inner Cabinet’ or ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ has become the real centre of power. This informal body consists of … Read more

The fundamental principle underlying the working of parliamentary system of government is the principle of collective responsibility. Article 75 clearly states that the council of ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha. This means that all the ministers own joint responsibility to the Lok Sabha for all their acts of ommission and commission. They … Read more

Article 21-A of the Constitution of India and its consequent legislation, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 became operative in the country in 2010. The RTE Act confers the right to elementary education on all children, in the age group of 6-14 years, on the basis of equality of … Read more

. The President of India exercises suspensive veto when he returns a bill for reconsideration of the Parliament. However, if the bill is passed again by the Parliament with or without amendments and again presented to the President, it is obligatory for the President to give his assent to the bill. This means that the … Read more

. Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is the research and development arm of the Ministry of Defence. It was created in 1958 by merging the units of Defence Science Organisation, which was set up in 1948 to advise and assist the Defence Services on scientific problems and to undertake research in areas related to … Read more

The executive powers and functions of the President are: All executive actions of the Government of India are formally taken in his name. He can make rules specifying the manner in which the orders and other instruments made and executed in his name shall be authenticated. He can make rules for more convenient transaction of … Read more

Under Article 352, the President can declare a national emergency when the security of India or a part of it is threatened by war or external aggression or armed rebellion. It may be noted that the president can declare a national emer-gency even before the actual occurrence of war or external aggression or armed rebellion, … Read more

The state of Assam has been under the grip of insurgency for more than three decades. Located in the strategic northeastern corner of India, it is part of a region which shares a highly porous and sensitive frontier with China in the North, Myanmar in the East, Bangladesh in the Southwest and Bhutan to the … Read more

The Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State Relations (1983–87) made a strong case for the establishment of a permanent Inter-State Council under Article 263 of the Constitution. It recommended that in order to differentiate the Inter-State Council from other bodies established under the same Article 263, it must be called as the Inter-Governmental Council. The Commission recommended … Read more

The Second commission on Centre-State Relations was set-up by the Government of India in April 2007 under the Chairmanship of Madan Mohan Punchhi, former Chief Justice of India.It was required to look into the issues of Centre-State relations keeping in view the sea-changes that have taken place in the polity and economy of India since … Read more