INDIAN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE

Controlling electron movement key to low-energy computers

2014-09-15T09:06:00.000+05:30

Electrons that break the rules and move perpendicular to the applied electric field could be the key to delivering next generation, low-energy computers, scientists say.

Researchers from the University of Manchester and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have described a material in which electrons move at a controllable angle to applied fields, similar to sailboats driven diagonally to the wind.

The material is graphene - one atom-thick chicken wire made from carbon - but with a difference.

It is transformed to a new so-called superlattice state by placing it on top of boron nitride, also known as ‘white graphite’, and then aligning the crystal lattic

es of the two materials.

In contrast to metallic graphene, a graphene superlattice behaves as a semiconductor.

In original graphene, charge carriers behave like massless neutrinos moving at the speed of light and having the electron charge.

Although an excellent conductor, graphene does not allow for easy switching on and off of current, which is at the heart of what a transistor does.

Electrons in graphene superlattices are different and behave as neutrinos that acquired a notable mass.

This results in a new, relativistic behaviour so that electrons can now skew at large angles to applied fields. The effect is huge, as found in the Manchester-MIT experiments.

Beyond the discovery, the observed phenomenon may also help enhance the performance of graphene electronics, making it a worthy companion to silicon, researchers said.

The work suggests that transistors made from graphene superlattices should consume less energy than conventional semiconductor transistors because charge carriers drift perpendicular to the electric field, which results in little energy dissipation.

The research is published in the journal Science.

What is dual citizenship

2014-09-15T08:52:00.001+05:30

The Passports Act, 1967, is a comprehensive law relating to the issue of passports and travel documents. It provides statutory safeguards in procedures involving the variation, impounding and revocation of passports, with rights of appeal to aggrieved persons with regards to offences and penalties levied under this Act. However, the simultaneous existence of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and The Foreigners Act, 1946, conferring absolute and unlimited powers to remove or summarily deport a person from India without following the due process of law, are anathema to a democratic country and an anti-thesis to the rule of law. Powers of house arrest, detention, solitary confinement and summary removal from India under these Acts clearly infringe upon the fundamental rights of life and personal liberty guaranteed under the Constitution. Therefore, these British-era laws are completely misplaced in this day and age.

The Central government has the exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether a person, who was a citizen of India, has lost that citizenship by having voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a “foreign State” as per Section 9(2) of The Citizenship Act, 1955, read with Rule 30 of The Citizenship Rules, 1956. Further, under Section 9(2) and Rule 30 above, mere proof of the fact that the person has obtained a passport from a foreign country is not sufficient to sustain an order for deportation or prosecution unless there has been a decision by the Central government under Section 9(2) of the Act. Moreover, the enquiry by the Central government under Section 9(2) of the Act is a quasi-judicial enquiry. This proposition of law is well settled by the following judgments of the Supreme Court : State of A.P. vs. Abdul Khader AIR (1961) SC 1467; Government of A.P. vs. Syed Md. AIR (1962) SC 1778 and State of U.P. vs. Rehmatullah AIR (1971) SC 1382. Thus, this process of determination of nationality is well settled in law.

With an estimated 21,90,9875 non-resident Indians spread across over 200 countries (Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs statistics), there have been compromises in the area of dual nationality, which is otherwise prohibited under Article (9) of the Constitution and Section (9) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. The categories — “Persons of Indian Origin” (PIO) and “Overseas Citizen of India” (OCI) — were carved out to confer limited benefits on persons of Indian origin. Therefore, PIOs and OCIs now enjoy limited rights in India and can enjoy residence rights here without any visa, registration, sanction or other permissions. Moreover, under Article (5), every person who is domiciled, born or whose parents were born in India, or who has been ordinarily resident in India for not less than five years preceding the commencement of the Constitution, shall be a citizen of India. Hence, inherent rights flow to those whose nationality is determined by law.

Under the 1946 Act, disputes relating to questions of determination of nationality when a foreigner is recognised as a national of more than one country or it is uncertain as to what nationality is to be ascribed to a foreigner, such person may be treated as the national of the country with which he appears to be most closely connected. The 1920 and 1946 Acts permit the removal or the deportation of a person from India without providing any forum or procedure for determination of the question of the nationality of the foreigner or giving any statutory rights in this process. There are no tribunals available to determine these questions as of now. However, the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the Citizenship Rules, 2009, prescribe that if any question arises as to whether, when or how any person had acquired the citizenship of another country, the Central government shall first determine such questions. The Supreme Court interpreting these provisions has held that a person could not be ordered to be deported or removed from India unless the Central government takes a conscious decision upon holding a quasi-judicial enquiry that a person has ceased to be an Indian citizen. A foreign passport simply will not label a person as a foreigner, and determination of his nationality is his fundamental right. It is time Parliament reconciles this concept of freedom, personal liberty and natural justice with the determination of nationality.

India and Neighbours

2014-09-05T18:43:00.000+05:30

India gives highest priority to her neighbours. This centrality of neighbours in India’s foreign policy stems from the clear understanding that a peaceful periphery is essential for India to achieve her multifarious developmental goals. Moreover, India firmly believes that a stable and prosperous South Asia will contribute to India’s own prosperity. Again, in the context of South Asia, India has a certain added responsibility because India is a neighbour to all though none of the others actually share borders – except Myanmar and Bangladesh. To that extent India has been implementing a policy of asymmetric engagement to strengthen bridges of friendship and create new opportunities for the growth, security and well-being of her neighbours both bilaterally and through the SAARC mechanism.

At the last SAARC Summit held in Maldives in November 2011, Prime Minister Dr. Mammohan Singh articulated India’s vision of regional economic integration based on enhanced intra-regional trade, investment flows and interconnectivity. India announced virtual elimination of sensitive lists affecting exports of all least developed SAARC countries to India and took various initiatives for capacity building. India is committed to fostering the sense of a South Asian Identity through the SAARC process, enhancing mutual confidence in multiple areas and in trying to leverage India’s rapid economic growth into win-win arrangements with her neighbours. India remains conscious of this vision of South Asian Integration in bilateral engagements with her neigbhours as well.

Happy Teachers Day

2014-09-05T10:57:00.000+05:30

The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has greeted teachers throughout the country on the occasion of Teachers’ Day.
In his message the President has said, “On the occasion of Teachers’ Day, I have great pleasure in extending my greetings and felicitations to teachers throughout the country.
Teachers must be friends, philosophers and guiding lights to their students. They are like candles, who burn brightly to enlighten others. We, in India, are inheritors of a sacred tradition in which our gurus, saints and seers have selflessly nurtured our minds and shaped our intellect.
Our society at large and in particular, students should show utmost respect and devotion to teachers. Teachers in turn must dedicate themselves to the service of their students and help our youth imbibe knowledge as well as essential civilizational values.
On this occasion, I extend my warm greetings to the entire teaching community of our country and thank them for their immense contribution to our nation”.

Biotechnology

2014-09-04T10:43:00.003+05:30

INTRODUCTION

Biotechnology uses cellular and bio-molecular processes to make useful product. Today’s biotechnology is fundamentally different from ancient ones, the primary difference being use of "processes of organism" in ancient days while today’s modern biotech manipulates "genes of organisms" and insert it into another organism for desired product or to manipulate them to suit them for desirable conditions. Biotech is using different science such as chemistry, computers, information technology, biology, and engineering, to develop different kinds of products which are helpful for human beings.

Different types of Biotechnology

1. Blue Biotechnology:- marine and aquatic applications of biotechnology, but its use is relatively rare.

2. Green Biotechnology:- biotechnology applied to agricultural processes.

3. Red Biotechnology:- biotechnology that is applied to medical processes
4. White Biotechnology:- It is also known as industrial biotechnology, is biotechnology applied to industrial processes.

DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES IN BIOTECHNOLOGY

1. FERMENTATION TECHNOLOGY (also called Bioprocessing Technology)

This technology uses cells or enzymes for the production of desirable compound.
in fermentation technology living cells, enzymes, yeast, proteins are used to catalyze biochemical reactions.
Most of the food products are produced by using this technology like wine, beer, tea, bred, pickle foods.
The recombinant DNA technology is used along with microbial fermentation for production of human insulin, the hepatitis B vaccines, enzymes, biodegradable plastic, laundry detergent enzymes.

2. CELL CULTURE
Growing of cells outside the body.
a) ANIMAL CELL CULTURE
b) PLANT CELL CULTURE

3. MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES
This technology produces antibodies with the help of immune system cells.
- Uses of monoclonal antibodies :

Find environmental pollutants
Detect harmful microorganism in food
Diagnose infectious diseases in humans, animals and in plants.
Find differences between cancer and normal cell.

Monoclinic antibodies can deliver chemical compound to cancer cells, avoiding normal cells.

NANO-BIOTECHNOLOGY

Nanotechnology – the study, manipulation and manufacture of ultra-small structures and machines made of as few as one molecule was made possible by the development of microscopic tools for imaging and manipulating single molecules and measuring the electromagnetic forces between them.
Nano-biotechnology joins the breakthroughs in nanotechnology to those in molecular biology.
Some of the potential applications of the nano-biotechnology :

Increasing the speed and power of disease diagnostics.
Creating bio-nanostructures for inserting functional molecules into cells
Improving the specificity and timing of drug delivery
Miniaturizing biosensors by integrating the biological and electronic components into a single, microscopic component

Microarrays: Microarray technology is transforming research because it permits analysis of tens of thousands of samples simultaneously.
- Scientists currently use microarray technology to study gene structure and function.
- Various microarrays can be created by nanobiotechnology like DNA microarrays, protein microarrays and tissue microarrays.
DNA microarrays are used to:
a) detect mutations in disease-related genes
b) monitor gene activity
c) diagnose infectious diseases and identify the best antibiotic treatment
d) identify genes important to crop productivity
e) improve screening for microbes used in bioremediation.
Protein microarrays can be used to:
a) Discover protein biomarkers that indicate disease stages
b) access potential efficacy and toxicity of drugs before clinical trials
c) measure differential protein production across cell types and developmental stages and in both healthy and diseased states
d) study the relationship between protein structure and function.
Tissue Microarrays: It allows the analysis of thousands of tissue samples on a single glass slide are being used to detect protein profiles in healthy and diseases tissues and validate potential drug targets.

Applications of Biotechnology in Agriculture
Advantages of Biotechnology in Agriculture specially in the crop biotechnology i.e. GM (genetically modified) crops:

Increase yields
Resistance to diseases caused by bacteria, fungi and viruses
The ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions such as freezes and droughts
Resistance to pests such as insects, weeds and nematodes.

Various hazards of using GM crops are given below:
1. Environmental Hazards

Unintended harm to other organisms
Reduced effectiveness of pesticides
Gene Transfer to non-target species
Leakage of GM proteins into soil

2. Human Health Risks

Increased allergy among children due to consumption
Unknown effects on human health in long-term

What is Genetic Engineering

2014-09-04T10:42:00.000+05:30

Genetic engineering or modification (GM) enables scientists to create plants, animals and micro-organisms by manipulating genes in a way that can not occur naturally.
Genetic modification through selective breeding and recombinant DNA techniques in some ways resemble each other, but there are important differences :
- i) Genetic modification using recombinant DNA techniques allows to move single genes whose functions we know from one organism to any other
- ii) In selective breeding, large sets f genes of unknown function are transferred between related organisms.
Today recombinant DNA techniques are used, in conjunction with molecular cloning, to:
a) produce new medicines and safer vaccines
b) treat genetic diseases
c) control viral diseases
d) inhibit inflammation
e) enhance bio control agents in agriculture
f) increase agricultural yields and decrease production costs
g) decrease allergy-producing characteristics of some foods
h) slow food spoilage
i) improve food’s nutritional value
j) develop biodegradable plastics and
k) decrease water and air pollution.

DNA Fingerprinting

2014-09-04T10:40:00.000+05:30

DNA fingerprinting or DNA typing, is a DNA-based identification system that relies on genetic differences among individuals or organisms.
Like fingerprints, every human has unique DNA; unlike fingerprints which can be surgically altered, one can’t change the DNA.
Fingerprint evidence can be too fuzzy to be read well, but DNA patterns are clear.

Procedure of DNA fingerprinting:

Isolation of DNA: DNA must be recovered from the cells or tissues of the body. Only a small amount of tissue – like blood, saliva, semen, hair or skin.
Cutting, sizing and sorting: Special enzymes called restriction enzymes are used to cut the DNA at specific places. The DNA pieces are sorted according to size by a sieving technique called electrophoresis. The DNA pieces are passed through a gel made from sea weed agarose.
Transfer of DNA to nylon: The distribution of DNA pieces is transferred to a nylon sheet by placing the sheet on the gel and soaking them overnight.
Probing: Adding radioactive or coloured probes to the nylon sheet produces a patterns called the DNA fingerprint. Each probe typically sticks in only one or two specific places on the nylon sheet.
DNA fingerprint: The final DNA fingerprint is built by using several probes (5-10 or more) simultaneously. The segments marked with probes are exposed on X-ray fil, where they form a characteristic pattern of black bars – the DNA fingerprint.

Applications of DNA fingerprinting

Forensic Uses: In criminal investigations, DNA from samples of hair, bodily fluids or skin at a crime scene is compared with those obtained from suspected perpetrators. DNA typing is also used to identify the remains of unknown individuals, as in the identification of the soldiers, or to identify the bodies of people killed in political violence or accidents whose bodies are unrecognizable.
Paternity: Paternity determination is possible with DNA typing because half of the father’s DNA is contained in the child’s genetic material.
Anthropology: DNA fingerprinting has also been used extensively to identify human remains, solving long-standing mysteries. DNA has had an enormous impact on anthropology as well.
Wildlife Management: The more the genetic makeup of natural populations is understood, the better conservation and management plans will be.

What is Bioinformatics?

2014-09-04T10:38:00.004+05:30

Bioinformatics helps to store biological data in computers. The main problem of today’s scientist is how to collect, store, and retrieve information. This problem is solved with the help of bioinformatics. Bioinformatics technology uses computational tools provided by the Information technology revolution, such as statistical software, graphics simulation, algorithms and database management, for organizing, accessing, processing, and integrating data from different sources.

Bioinformatics has two branches:

The first is consists of data storing, gathering, accessing and visualization.
The second branch focuses on data analysis, data integration, and modeling.

CLONING

2014-09-04T10:37:00.000+05:30

Cloning allows to generate population of genetically identical molecules, cells, plants or animals. Because this technology can be used to produce molecules, cells, plants and some animals, its applications are exceptionally broad.

TYPES OF CLONING
1. Molecular or Gene Cloning:- Molecular or gene cloning, the process of creating genetically identical DNA molecules, provides the foundation of the molecular biology revolution and is a fundamental and essential tool of biotechnology research, development and commercialization.

2. Animal Cloning :- Animal cloning helps to rapidly incorporate improvements into livestock herds.

Methods of Cloning

i) Artificial Embryo Twining (AET)

In AET, the natural process of creating identical twin is mimicked, but in a lab instead of the mother’s womb. Scientists naturally separate a very early embryo into individual cells and then allow each cell to divide and develop on its own. The resulting embryos are placed into a surrogate mother, where they are carried to term and delivered. Since all the embryos come from the same zygote, they are genetically identical.

ii) Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT)

SCNT involves the isolation of a somatic (body) cell, which is any cell other than those used for reproduction (sperm and egg, known as the germ cells). In mammals, every somatic cell has two complete sets of chromosomes, whereas the germ cells have only one complete set. To make Dolly,(the first cloned Ship) scientists extracted the nucleus of a somatic cell taken from an adult female sheep and transferred it to an egg cell from which the nucleus had been removed. After some chemical manipulation, the egg cell, with the new nucleus behaved like a freshly fertilized zygote. It developed into an embryo, which was implanted into a surrogate mother and carried to term giving birth to Dolly.

Controversies over Animal Cloning

There are considerable technical issues and risks involved in the technique. (Note: Dolly died at the age of six while a sheep usually lives for 10 to 16 years. Also, Dolly had a fast rate of ageing.)
No matter how many species are cloned human cloning will always be an experiment as different species have different behavior towards cloning i.e. even if we solve the problem with the ape or monkey cloning, cloning of humans will still be full of problems.
Another problem is the relatively low rate of success in cloning and the fact that many of the cloned animals are born with deformities or congenital defects.
Cloning of human babies is certainly likely to become feasible but many regard this as both dangerous and morally wrong.
Using the cloning and genetic engineering, it is possible to change the genetic makeup of the embryo, giving rise to the possibility of the “designer baby”. Some people see nothing wrong in it. They say it is good rather than spending huge sum of money on schools. But it is also true that such technology would be available to only few wealthy people.
Considering the “Designer Baby” scenario, it is also important to remember that no technology is ever precisely predictable, and our current understanding of genetic engineering is very limited.
Religious groups have also raised serious objections as it is against the basic religious principles.

Stem cell technology

2014-09-04T10:35:00.000+05:30

Stem cells have capacity to differentiate into any type of cells i.e. they are unspecialized cells. These can divide number of times and can be used in different therapies for variety of disorders and injuries such as Parkinson disease, severe burns, damage to the spinal cord and a number of other human diseases.

Two type of stem cells

Embryonic stem cells – derived from the inner mass of mammalian embryo at a very early stage of development, when it is just a hollow ball of dividing cells called blastocyst.
- The embryonic stem cells at early stage are totipotent (give rise to any cell type of the adult organism).
- The embryos from which stem cells are harvested are generally developed through in vitro fertilization (fertilized outside human body) so that ethical concerns are met.
Adult Stem Cells – Present in adult human body.
- They form part of some tissues like the epidermis of the skin, the lining of the small intestine and the bone marrow which undergoes continuous cellular change.

APPLICATIONS OF STEM CELLS

cell based therapies.
Helpful for cancer treatment (bone marrow stem cell)
Use in early clinical trials in Parkinson’s diseases ( foetal stem cells)
With the help of stem cells artificial organs are created, example liver, heart, pancreas.

Classification of stem cells based on their dividing capacity:
1. PLURIPOTENT STEM CELLS

can divide into various different cell types except for totipotent stem cells and cells of placenta.
develope about four days after the fertilization.

2. TOTIPOTENT STEM CELLS

capacity to differentiate into any cell type including placenta (which nourishes the embryo ).
develop in first few divisions of the fertilization.

3. MULTIPOTENT STEM CELLS

descendents of pluripotent stem cells and antecedents of specialized cells in particular tissues.
Example : Hematopoietic stem cells ( found in the bone marrow ; give rise to all type of cells found in blood- including red blood cells, white blood cells and the platelets), Neural stem cells- which can differentiate into nerve cells.

Sources of Stem Cells

Embryonic Stem (ES) cells

Derived from human embryos that are few days old
Have the potential to become almost any type of cell.
Difficult to manipulate
Ethically contentious as the embryo is destroyed in the process

Foetal Stem Cells

Derived from aborted human foetuses
Have the potential to become many of the cell types
Ethically contentious and limited availability

Cord blood and placental stem cells

Derived from umbilical cord blood and placentas
Already used in a variety of therapies
Easily extractable
Can currently only from a limited number of cell types
Available in low concentrations

Adult stem cells

Found in all humans
Already in use for some therapies
Sometimes difficult to access
Can currently form a limited number of cell types

Market of Mothers' : Surrogacy Market in India

2014-09-04T10:33:00.002+05:30

Terms used

Intended couple: It represents the male-male/male-female/female-female persons as couple.
Intended mother: She is the women from the couple who is not able to conceive because of medical reasons.
Intended father: He is the father from the couple who is not able to conceive because of medical reasons.
Surrogate mother: She is the woman who is going to grow the child in her womb for nine months.

What is Surrogacy?
Surrogacy is the process in which a woman under legal contract carries & delivers the child to a couple or person who cannot conceive because of medical reasons.

Types of Surrogacy

1) Traditional Surrogacy

In this process, the father’s sperm from the couple is injected into the surrogate mother either naturally or artificially. But in this process, the child genetically represents father of the couple & the surrogate mother.

2) Gestational Surrogacy

In this process, the embryo formed by the combination of intended mother’s egg & intended father’s sperm is injected in the surrogate mother artificially. In this process, the child genetically represents the intended father & intended mother. (Note: In this process, the child do not genetically represent the surrogate mother. This process is preferred during surrogacy.

Gestational Surrogacy is further classified according to what is donated: i) Gestational Surrogacy via sperm donation ii) Gestational Surrogacy via egg donation iii) Gestational Surrogacy via Embryo donation

Advantage: There is around zero chance that there will be any “attachment bond” between the child & surrogate mother.

What is IVF?
IVF stands for In Vitro Fertilization. IVF is a process in which, the egg is fertilized by using sperm, outside the body of the women.

Positive points of surrogacy

Serves as a nice option for Adoption

Often during adoption, adopting parents are worried about the lineage & heridtary characteristics of the child being adopted. But with surrogacy, the child we will get will have our own flesh & blood.

It gives the truest sense of being a parent.
Parent’s Cell are used in the process

For the surrogacy method, the cell of the parent are used i.e. the child is exact same (genetically) to their parents.

Confidential & Protected

For surrogacy to work properly, the information about the surrogate mother & the parents has to be kept secret. Because of presence of various laws & institutions specialized in “surrogacy help” surrogacy is a very safe option.

Can help those couples which have fertility problems. Hence even an infertile man or infertile women can become father or mother as the case may be. (Note: Fertility, here denotes the low level of sperm or egg count. Sperm in the case of man & egg in the case of women)
Surrogacy acts as an occupation & helps needy women to earn their living.
It helps particularly in the case if the parents are of same gender.

Negative Points about surrogacy

The process is much complex.
Time required for the whole process is large as it takes time to find the proper surrogate mother, legal agencies, etc.
Finding the right mother is often hard as there are various complexities involved with the various criteria that is expected by the parents.
Various things have to be attended like legal process, medical criteria & financial matter.
It is very expensive. Money is required for the following things: 1) Lawyer fees 2) Medicines 3) Proper food for the surrogate mother 4) Surrogate mother fees 5) Hospital Charges
The couple opting for surrogacy may not be able to share their happiness with the rest of society as those people will still have a different “perspective” for you.

Surrogacy market in India

Beginning of the surrogacy market in India happened in the year 2002. India since then has become so famous that it is being called as “BABY FACTORIES”.
Reasons for India being a famous “market” for surrogacy
Low cost in India as compared to other developed countries.
Availability of skilled doctors in India.
Bureaucracy is not very strict.
Large & never ending supply of surrogate mother in India (Note: Due to huge population of India & the poverty levels)
Success rate of children born is high in India.
No official figures exist about how big Indian surrogacy market is.
But according to the data of a United Nations (UN) backed body suggest that Indian surrogacy market is estimated at more than $400 million per year.
Most famous clinic for surrogacy in India is “AKANKSHA Clinic” based in Anand, Gujarat. It is famous in India as well as abroad. Hence, Gujarat is recently being called as “surrogacy capital”.
Famous surrogacy cities India: Delhi, Mumbai, Anand, Surat, Jamnagar, Bhopal & Indore.

Laws for Surrogacy in India

Supreme Court has legalized surrogacy in India in 2002 itself.

No separate laws are present in India for surrogacy. But now Government is trying to pass the surrogacy bill named “the Assisted Reproductive Technologies Bill (ART)”. This bill may come before the parliament in the next year and aims :

to protect the children, surrogates & commissioning parents.
To establish regulatory authority to register & monitor the fertility clinics in India.
Defines the age of surrogate mother be between 21 to 35 years old.
To set maximum of five pregnancies (Note: Five pregnancies to include pregnancies of their own)
Proper insurance & full proof legal contract be signed between the surrogate mother & the couple.
Insurance to be mandatory.
Proper & common procedure be established for surrogacy in India.
Will make compulsory for the applying couple to show proof that the child will get the citizenship of their country.
To stop clinics from sourcing, supplying & taking care of the surrogate mothers by themselves.
Surrogate mother not to indulge in work or activity which can harm foetus.
Only Indian citizens will have the right for being surrogate. Indian clinics should not send any surrogate abroad nor should they receive any surrogate in India from abroad.
A couple can’t opt for more than one surrogate at a given time.
Simultaneous transfer of embryo in the women & the surrogate mother is not allowed.
If the couple opting for surrogacy belongs to other country than India i.e. is foreigner then they have to appoint a local guardian in India who will be legally responsible for the child.
If the couple do not take the child after delivery, then the local guardian are free to hand over that child to adoption agency.
If the surrogate mother is married then permission of her husband will be required before she opts for surrogacy.
According to our revised visa laws, same sex couples are not allowed to apply for surrogacy in India.

Flaws with the current Surrogacy Laws in India

No fixed rule/law for compensation & presence of no insurance for post-delivery healthcare.
Medical clinics are seen doing exploitation of the surrogate mothers.
Also, surrogacy is being overused for financial reasons.
It has been seen in many cases that even when there is poor embryo quality in women, doctors are suggesting them to go for surrogacy as it is good for the doctor in financial terms. But such women can’t go for surrogacy as the embryo of these women is not of good quality. In short, doctors are misleading the couples.

Points that should be covered in a “Surrogacy Contract”
Following are the points that should be covered in the legal contract between the couple & surrogate mother:

Name of the Doctor/Hospital & the kind of surrogacy method used.
Is health insurance available for the Surrogate if in case something bad happens & who is going to pay for that insurance.
Contract should specifically include the following (strictly): 1) the termination of parental rights of the surrogate mother & her partner on the child after 24 hours of child birth 2) contract should legalize the intended parents to legally claim the child 3) Birth certificate to be issued in the name of the couple.
All the responsibilities of the child are to be carried out by the couple once it is born & it won’t be the responsibility of the surrogate mother.
All the stakeholders in the contract should be following strict confidentiality.

Change in the Indian society perspective

Indian society is conservative about surrogacy.
But due to recent surrogacy steps taken by the famous celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan & Satish Kaushik has helped Indian mindset to change.

Constitutional Amendments

2014-09-04T10:27:00.003+05:30

INTRODUCTION

The constitution of India is not rigid and not flexible, but it is a combination of these both. Article 368 in part XX gives powers to parliament to amend the constitution and its procedures. Parliament can amend it by adding article, or delete any provision, but however parliament cannot amend those provisions which change the ‘basic structure’ of parliament (The supreme court of India has ruled this in Kesavananda Bharti case in 1973). The American constitution is very rigid & that of Britain very flexible. Our constitution is the synthesis of these two constitutions.

TYPES OF AMENDMENTS

Article 368 gives two types of amendments first is by special majority & other is by special majority with ratification of half of states with simple majority. Some articles of constitution can be amended by simple majority that is majority of members of each house present and voting but these type of amendments are not considered to be amendments under Article 368.

The amendments can be done by three ways:

Amendments by simple majority of parliament (i.e. majority of the people present and voting)
Amendments by special majority of parliament
Amendments by special majority of the parliament and the ratification of half of the state legislatures

AMENDMENTS BY SPECIAL MAJORITY

Special majority means amendment of the constitution under article 368 involving 1) majority of the total membership of the house (i.e. more than 50% of the total members of the house) plus ii)majority of two-third of the members of each house present and voting (i.e. the people present at the time of voting in the house should amount to two-third).

Following provisions can be amended by special majority;

Fundamental rights
Directive principles of state policy
All the provisions which are not covered by first and third categories.

AMENDMENTS BY SPECIAL MAJORITY AND WITH THE CONSENT OF STATES

The important thing to understand under this type of amendment is that it comes under the scope of article 368.
It is needed only when there is a question about amendment of the federal structure of the constitution.
Federalism is the political structure where there is proper division of the powers between the centre and the state.
Hence, all the provisions in the constitution which involves federal character have to be amended by this type of amendment.
For this case, both the houses of Parliament should pass the said bill by special majority. After that half of the number of states should pass the same bill with simple majority in their respective state legislatures.
No definite time limit has been set up for the state legislatures to pass the said bill under this provision i.e. it has been left at the discretion of the states.

Following provisions can be amended by this way:

Distribution of legislative powers between the center and states.
Power of parliament to amend the constitution and its procedure.
Election of the president and its manner.
Any of the lists in the seventh schedule.
Extent of the executive power of the union and the states.
Representation of states in parliament.

AMENDMENTS BY SIMPLE MAJORITY

The provisions that can be amended by simple majority is outside the scope of Article 368. These provisions that can be amendedby simple majority are as follows:

1. Citizenship – acquisition and termination
2. Union territories
3. Quorum in parliament.
4. Conferment’s of more jurisdiction on the supreme
5. Use of official language.
6. Number of judges in the supreme court
7. Use of English language in parliament
8. Admission or establishments of new states.
9. Abolition or creation of legislative councils in states.
10. Salaries and allowances of the members of parliament
11. Rules of procedures in parliament
12. Privileges of the parliaments, its members and its committees
13. Election of parliament and state legislatures.
14. Delimitation of constituencies.
15. Union territories
16. Sixth schedule – administration of tribal areas
17. Fifth schedule – administration of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes.
18. Formation of new state and alteration of areas, boundaries or name of existing states.

PROCEDURE FOR AMENDMENT
All the amendment procedures of the constitution are present in article 368 is given below:

The move for amendment can be initiated in either house of parliament (but not in state legislature. Can be introduced by any minister/private member & does not need permission of President for such bill)
Each house should pass the bill with special majority.
The amendment bill must pass be passed separately, (if the hoses do not agree on bill there is no provision for joint setting of the houses).
If the amendment bill is regarding the federal character of the constitution then after the passage of the bill in both the houses of Parliament it is presented to the state. Otherwise if it is not regarding federal character it directly goes to the President for his assent.
(the bill involving federal character)After the passage of the bill from the parliament and ratified by the state legislature then bill is presented to the president for his assent.
President can neither return the bill nor withhold the bill. He needs to give assent to the said bill. (It is compulsory for the President). After the assent from the President, that bill becomes a constitutional amendment act.

Amendment and the Fundamental Rights

1. Shankari Prasad Case(1951)

Case questioning that whether fundamental rights can be amended under Article 368 & also questioned the constitutional validity of First amendment act that curtailed the right to property.
SC said that Parliament can amend the Fundamental rights under 368. Also, laws under Article 13 are ordinary laws & hence can be taken away by Parliament by amendment.

2. Golak Nath Case(1967)

Case questioned the constitutional validity of putting some state laws under Schedule 9 of the constitution (by 7th Amendment Act)
Any law put under Schedule 9 is not available for Judicial Review
SC said that it’s decision in Shankari Prasad Case was wrong & Fundamental rights have an important position in the constitution & hence can’t be amended under article 368.
Constitutional amendment is also a law under Article 13 & hence can’t take away the fundamental rights.
Parliament after this judgment enacted the 24th amendment act, 1971 which amended the Article 13 & Article 368. The new law stated that Parliament can take away any Fundamental right by use of Article 368 & such a constitutional amendment act will not be considered as a “law” under article 13.

3. Kesavananda Bharati Case(1973)

SC sated that 24th Constitutional amendment act is valid & Parliament can take away Fundamental rights.
SC at this time came out with doctrine of “basic structure”. It states that Parliament cannot amend the constitution under Article 268 that relates to the change of basic structure of the constitution i.e. Parliament can’t take away those fundamental rights that are a part of basic structure of the constitution.
Parliament then enacted 42nd Constitutional amendment act, 1976. It states that there is no limit to the power conferred by Article 368 to the Parliament & any change brought about by article 368 cannot be questioned in the court of law.

4. Minerva Mills Case(1980)

The provisions that were laid down by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment act, 1976 were declared invalid by the Supreme Court in this 1980 Supreme Court case.

5. Waman Rao Case(1981)

Supreme Court stated that any amendment act can’t change the basic structure of the constitution & these would apply to the amendments after April 24,1973.

So, as of now, Parliament can do any type of amendment & even amend the Fundamental rights but which are not changing the “basic structure” of the constitution.

SOME NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF THE AMENDMENT PROCEDURE

The provisions under amendment are very vague & hence require a lot of understanding.
No difference between the ordinary bill & the constitutional amendment bill except for special majority.
No special body for such purpose is present.
States in India have no right to start the constitutional amendment procedure.
No way to solve any deadlock between the two houses of the Parliament. There is no provision for joint sitting of the house in case of deadlock over amendment bill.
Most part of the constitution can be amendment by way of special majority & simple majority alone. Only in few cases, states ratification is required.
No time limit given to states for passing the amendment bill involving federal character.

Monetary And Credit Policy

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INTRODUCTION

Monetary policy is made by the central bank to manage supply of money to achieve specific goals such as constraining inflation, maintaining an appropriate exchange rate, generating jobs and economic growth.
Monetary policy involves changing interest rates, either directly or indirectly through open market operations, setting reserves requirements, or trading in foreign exchange markets.

MONETARY POLICY

The use by the central bank of interest rate and other instruments to influence money supply to achieve certain macroeconomic goals is known as monetary policy.
Credit policy is part of monetary policy as it deals with how much and at what rate, credit is advanced by the banks.
Monetary policy can be expansionary or contractionery.
Expansionary policy increases the total supply of money in the economy as in 2008-9 all over the world including India to beat recession and slowdown.
And a contractionary policy decreases the total money supply by tightening credit conditions.
Expansionary policy is traditionally used to combat unemployment in a recession by lowering interest rate, while contractionary policy has the goal of raising interest rates to control inflation.

OBJECTIVES OF MONETARY POLICY:

Generating employment
Exchange rate stabilization
Prices stability
Accelerating growth of economy
Balancing savings and investment

Historically monetary policy was announced twice a year in a slack season policy (April to September) and a busy season policy (October to march) in accordance’s with agriculture cycle. Initially the reserve bank of India announced all its monetary measures twice a year in a monetary and credit policy.

The Tools available for the central bank to achieve the monetary policy ends are the following:

Intervention in the forex market
Bank rate
Open market operation
Moral suasion
Bank rate

READY FORWARD CONTRACTS (REPOS)

It is a transaction in which two parties agree to sell and repurchase the same security.
Under such an agreement the seller sells specified securities with an agreement to repurchase the same at a mutually decided future date and price.
Similarly, the buyer purchases the securities with an agreement to resell the same to the seller on an agreed date in future at a predetermined price.
In India RBI lends on a short term basis to banks on the security of the government bonds (repo). Banks undertake to repurchase the security at a later date over night or few days. RBI charges a repo rate for the money it lends.
Reverse Repo rate is when RBI borrows from the market (absorbs excess liquidity) with the sale of securities and repurchase them the next day or after a few days. The rate at which it borrows is called reverse repo rate as it is the reverse of the repo operations. Reverse repo rate 100% basis points (1%) below the repo rate.
The repo or reverse repo transaction can only be done at Mumbai and in securities as approved by RBI (treasury bills, central and state govt. securities).
RBI uses repo and reverse repo as an instrument for liquidity adjustment in the system.
Repo rate is known as policy rate and is used as signal to the financial system to adjust their lending and borrowings operations.
Reserve bank of India hiked repo rate 13 times between March 2010 and October 2011 before pausing and lowering because inflation was rising.

BANK RATE

It is a rate at which RBI lend long term loan to commercial banks.
Bank rate is a tool which RBI uses for maintaining money supply.
Any revision in bank rate by RBI is a signal to banks to revise deposit rates as well as prime lending rate (PLR is the rate at which bank lend to the bank customers).
It is not in use any more.
Last time it was set was in 2003 when the 6% rate was fixed. In 2011, the bank rate was aligned with the newly introduced Marginal standing facility.
Today it stands at 9% 2012.
Bank rate is aligned with marginal standing facility (MSF) rate which in turn is linked to the policy Repo rate. This should be viewed and understood as one time technical adjustment to align the bank rate with the MSF rate rather than a change in the monetary policy stances.
The bank rate has been kept unchanged at 6% since 2003. This was mainly for the reason that monetary policy signaling was done through changes in the repo. The bank rate acts as the penal rate charged on banks for shortfalls in meeting their service requirements (Cash reserve ratio and statutory liquidity ratio).

Marginal standing facility

In 2011 RBI introduced the marginal standing facility as a window through which commercial banks can borrow from the RBI at a rate that is 1% more than the repo rate.
It is meant to ease liquidity in the market.
Banks can use the repo route for the securities over and about the mandatory SLR Holdings 24% of bank deposits.
MSF is open to the banks that want to borrow from the RBI even if the credit is costlier by a percentage point.
MSF can be availed with security above the 24% SLR limit or even below.
Totally 1% of the value of deposits is the limit for the MSF window for each bank. It was raised to 2% in 2012.
The aim is liquidity in a graded manner. It has in monetary transmission also.
MSF is the penal rate because the repo limit is exhausted and also because the SLR limit is breached. Bank rate is also a penal rate for breaching the SLR and CRR limits. Therefore there is a need to bring bank rate on par with the MSF as was done by the RBI 2011 -12.
MSF window also has become necessary because the repo operations are limited to a specific period during the day.

Liquidity adjustment facility
Liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) was introduced by RBI in 2000. Funds under liquidity adjustment facility are used by the banks for their day to day mismatches in liquidity. LAF covers credit at repo and reverse repo rates.

Reserve requirements
In economics fraction reserve banking is the near universal practice of banks in which banks keep a fraction of the total deposits managed by a bank as reserves that are not to be lent. The reserve ratios are periodic really changed by the RBI. The reserve requirement is a bank regulation that sets the minimum reserves each bank must hold as a part of the deposits. These reserves are designed to satisfy various needs like providing loans to the government (SLR) kept with themselves or cash that is kept with the RBI.

Statutory liquidity ratio (SLR)

It is the portion of time(fixed deposits) and demand liabilities (savings bank and current accounts) of banks that they should keep in the form of designated liquid assets like government securities and other RBI approved securities like public sector bonds, current account balance with other banks and gold. SLR aims at ensuring that the need for government funds is partly but surely meet by the banks.SLR was progressively brought down from 38.5% in 1991 24% in 2012.
Banks need more liquidity to lend at lower rates in the current economic downturn. Therefore RBI reduced the SLR by 1% to 24% temporarily after the global financial crisis erupted and it was restored to 25% 2009. But in 2010 it was lowered to 24% to argument liquidity in a growing economy. SLR is a blunt instrument and was unchanged for more than decade and half is the Lehman induced global financial and economic crisis of 2008.
The reserve bank of India act 1934 and the banking regulation act 1949 fixed the floor and cap On SLR 25% and 40% respectively. But the amendment made in these statutes in 2007 removed the lower limits but retained the cap and 40%. RBI has as a result the freedom to that reduce the SLR to any rate depending on the macro economic conditions. The amendment was an enabling one.

Cash reserve ratio

Cash Reserve ratio (CRR) is a monitoring tool to regulate money supply. It is the portion of the bank deposits that a bank should keep with the RBI in cash form. CRR deposits earn to interest. The reserve bank of India act 1934 and the banking regulation act 1949 fixed the floor and cap On CRR 3% and 20% respectively. But the amendment made in these statutes in 2007 removed the limits lower and upper. RBI had as a result greater operational flexibility to make its monetary adjustments.
CRR is adjusted to manage liquidity and inflation. The more the CRR the less the money available for lending by the banks players in the economy. CRR was 15% in 1991 and today it is 4.75% 2012.

Open market operations of RBI
OMSs of the RBI can be described as outright purchase sale of government securities in the open market (open market essentially means banks and financial institutions) by the RBI in order to influence the volume of money and credit in the economy. Purchases of government securities inject money into the market and thus expand credit.

Selective credit controls
Certain businesses can be given more and certain other May get less credit from banks on the order of the RBI. Thus selective credit controls can be imposed for meeting various goals like discouraging hoarding and black marketing of certain essential commodities by traders etc by giving less credit.

Moral suasion
A persuasion measures used by Central bank to influence and pressure, but not force banks into adhering to policy. Measures uses are closed door meeting with bank directors, increased severity of inspections, discussions on appeals to community spirit etc.

The growing importance of monetary policy
Democratically elected governments resist using fiscal policy to fight inflation as it requires government to take unpopular actions like reducing spending or raising taxes. Political realities favor a bigger role for monetary policy during times of inflation. Fiscal policy may be more suited to fighting unemployment as the government can set up spending to credit public works and in the process jobs, while monetary policy may be more effective in fighting inflation. There is a limit to how much monetary policy can do to help the economy during a period of severe economic crisis.

Market stabilization bonds
In 2004 RBI began floating government securities and T-bills, as part of market stabilization scheme, to absorb excess liquidity from the market. The excess liquidity is the result of RBI buying dollars from the market.

Developing countries and monetary policy
Developing countries have problems operating monetary policy effectively. The primary difficulty is that fiscal policy of the government set priorities and the Central bank is not actively involved in decisions related to money supply through borrowings.

Interest rates and their significance
Interest rates the rates offered to money that is deposited in the banks, rates offered for investment in bonds, rates at which money is borrowed from banks and financial institutions, and rates charged from the borrowers, etc.
The determinants of interest rate are as follows

Inflation-the higher the inflation, the higher the interest rates because the same money invested in commodities and other assets should not fetch more because of the inflation
Global trends as we need to retain foreign fund.
Need to generate demand- interest rates, come down consumer demand for credit goes up and there will be a stimulus for growth.
Governments need to borrow- the magnitude of governments borrowing programme also determines interest rates. The more the borrowing, the higher the interest rates.
Promotion of savings
need for growth- lower interest rates reduced cost of credit and facilitate investment for growth
promotion of savings

Floating and flexible rates of interest

There are two types of interest rates, fixed and floating. (Note: Fixed rate of interest means an interest rate which is fixed & static & not going to change. Floating rate of interest means an interest rate that is allowed to change itself according to market situations.)
Floating interest rates are linked to an underlying benchmark rate.
In other words the interest rate offered floats in relation to the interest rate of a government security instrument of similar maturity (5 years on 10 years maturity) as determined by the market.

Inflation targeting
Under this policy approach the target is to keep inflation in a particular range or at a particular level. Government and RBI agree on convergence between the fiscal and the monetary policies to achieve the common foal. RBI is given autonomy to manage inflation while the government agrees to have a fiscal policy that will contribute to price stability for example not borrow excessively etc. India does not follow it.

Reserve bank of India
The Central bank of the country is the reserve bank of India (RBI). It was established in 1935 with a share capital of Rs 5 crore on the basis of the recommendations of the Hilton Young commission. RBI was nationalized in the year 1949. The reserve bank of India act 1934 come into effect in 1935.

Functions

RBI has sold right to issue bank notes of all denominations.
RBI should maintain gold and foreign exchange reserves of Rs.200 crore of which are Rs.115 crore should be in gold.
RBI can prints notes according to the need of the economy.
RBI acts as government banker, agent and adviser.
It is the controller of credit that is it has the power to influence the volume of credit created by banks in India
RBI functions as national clearing house.
Custodial of foreign reserves.

Supervisory functions

Control the nonbanking finance operations.
Ensuring the health of financial system through one site and off-site verifications.
Granting license to banks.
Implementation of deposit insurance scheme.
Periodical review of the work of commercial banks.
Inspect and make enquiry or determine position in respect of matters under various sections of RBI and the banking regulation act.

Inflation

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INTRODUCTION

Inflation means a persistent rise in the prices of goods and services. Inflation reduces the purchasing power of money. It hurts the poor more as a greater proportion of their incomes are needed to pay for their consumption. Inflation reduces savings, pushes the interest rates, dampens investments, and leads to depreciation of currency thus making imports costlier.

Types of inflation

creeping inflation

creeping inflation is a rate of general price increase of 1 to 5% a year. Creeping inflation of 3 to 5% erodes purchasing power of money when continued over many years, but it is manageable. Furthermore a low creeping inflation could be good for the economy as producers and traders make reasonable profits encouraging them to invest.

Trotting inflation

Trotting inflation is usually defined as 5 to 10% annual rate of increase in the general level of prices that, if not controlled might accelerate into a galloping inflation of 10 to 20% a year. If it aggravates, galloping inflation can worsen to a runaway inflation which may change into a hyperinflation.

Hyperinflation

Hyperinflation is the inflation that is out of control, a condition in which prices increases rapidly as currency loses its value. No definition of hyperinflation is universally accepted.
Other related concept

Deflation when there is a general fall in the level of prices
Disinflation which is the reduction of the rate of inflation.
Stagflation which is a combination of inflation and rising unemployment due to recession.
Reflation which is an attempt to raise prices to counteract deflationary pressures.

Measures of Inflation

GDP deflator

GDP stands for gross domestic product, the total value of all final goods and services produced within that economy during a specified period. GDP deflator is a measure of the change in prices of all new, domestically produced, final goods and services in an economy. The GDP deflator is not based on fixed market basket of goods and services but applies to all goods and services domestically produced.

Cost of living index

The cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living. It is defined with reference to a basket of goods and services. When their cost goes up, cost of living is said to be dearer and the index will go up. It has a value of 100 in the base year. An index value of 105 indicates that the cost of living is 5% higher than in the base year.

Producer price index

Producer price index (PPI) measures the change in the prices received by a producer. The difference with the wholesale price index is countered for by logistics, profits taxes, mainly. Producer price inflation measures the price pressure due to increase in the costs of raw materials. It may be absorbed by them or made up by increases in productivity or passed on to the consumers. It depends on the market conditions.

Wholesale price indices

Wholesale price indices (WPI), which measures the change in price of a selection of goods at wholesale, prior to retail sales thus excluding sales taxes. These are very similar to the producer price indexes.

Consumer Price index

Consumer Price index (CPI) is a measure that changes in prices paid by the consumer at the retail level. It can be for the whole community or group specific for example CPI for industrial workers etc as in India.

Types of inflation based on causes
1. Demand pull inflation
Demand pull inflation is caused by increase in demand due to increased private and government spending etc. It involves inflation which is rising as real gross domestic product rises and unemployment falls. This is commonly described as “too much money chasing too few goods”. For example, India in 2010 when economy is said to have overheated and demand outstripped supply and prices rose.
2.Cost push inflation
It is also referred to as ”supply shock inflation” caused by reduced supplies due to increase prices of inputs. For example crude prices globally have gone up causing supply constraints which means higher costs of production and so higher prices. Crude and food prices shot up in 2008 July came down and again increased.
3. Structural inflation
Structural inflation is a type of persistent inflation caused by deficiencies in certain conditions in the economy such as a backward agricultural sector that is unable to respond to peoples increased demand for food, inefficient distribution and storage facilities leading to artificial shortages of goods, and production of some goods controlled by some people.

Problems with high rate of inflation in economy

people on a fixed income (eg. pensioners, students) will be worse off in real terms due to higher prices and equal income as before.
Low income groups are particularly hurt
Strikes can take place for higher wages which can cause a wage spiral. Also if strikes occur in an important industry which has a comparative advantage the nation may see a decrease in productivity, export and growth.
It will distribute income from those on fixed incomes, such as pensioners and shifts it to those who draw and inflation linked income and businesses.
Inflation tax happens. When a government borrows and spends, the cash held by people erodes in value due to inflation.
Inflation may discourage saving and thus hit investment. The savings pattern is also gets skewed in favor of unproductive assets like gold and inflation may be higher than interest rates and yield is negative.
Inflation can drag down to an investment climate turns bad due to instability and uncertainty and also and interest rates are raised and cost of credit increased.
Inflation discourages exports as domestic sales are attractive and BOP problems can be caused. Inflation may erode the external competitiveness of domestic products if it leads to higher production costs such as wage increases, higher interest rate and currency depreciation.

Majors to control inflation

dual pricing like in sugar
fiscal measures include reduction in indirect taxes
Monetary measures include rate and reserve requirements changes. Open market operations can establish prices under normal conditions also sterilization through, governmental bond transactions as in the case of MSBs.
supply-side actors include making goods available import of edible oil in India
Administrative measures include implementation of dehoarding and anti-black marketing measures. Wage and price controls can also be used.

Collection of statistics act, 2008
Collection of statistics at 2008 was made to bring in new rules aimed at improving data collection. Government will levy higher penalty for not sharing data and tougher punishment will be imposed in cases where manipulation of data is involved.
Under the new act people or companies not divulging data would have to pay a fine of Rs. 1000 and they would be given a 14 day notice prior to comply. If the information is not provided even after two weeks the penalty will rise to Rs. 5000 per day.

Phillips’s curve
The inverse relationship between rate of inflation and rate of unemployment is shown in the Phillips curve. Price stability has a trade off against employment. Some level of inflation could be considered desirable in order to minimize unemployment. Potential output sometimes called the natural gross domestic product is an important concept in relation to inflation. It is the level of GDP where the economy is at its optimal level of production given various constraints institutional and natural.

Governments steps to control inflation
The government has taken a number of short term and medium-term measures to improve domestic availability of essential commodities and moderate inflation.

Fiscal measures
Reduce import duties to zero for rice, wheat, onions, and edible oils and to 7.5% for refining and hydrogenated oils and vegetable oils.
Permitted national dairy development board (NDDB) to import 50, 0000 MT, of butter, butter oil, and anhydrous milk fat at zero duty under tariff rate quota.
Permitted the state trading Corporation of India (STC) /minerals and metals trading Corporation (MMTC)/Project equipment (PEC) and national agricultural cooperative marketing Federation of India (NAFED) to import duty-free white/refined sugar initially with a cap of 1 million tones. Later duty-free import was also allowed by other Central/State government agencies and private trade without any cap on quantity.
Administrative measures
removed levy obligation in respect of all imported raw sugar and white refined sugar
Banned export of edible oils (except coconut oil and forest based oil) and pulses (except kabuli chana and organic pulses).
Imposed ban on export of non-basmati rice and wheat for short period of time
Permitted export of edible oils in branded consumer packs of up to 5 kg subject to limit of 10,000 tones.
Prohibited export of milk powder (including skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder, dairy whitener and infant milk food) Casein and casein products.
Effected no change in tariff rate values of edible oils
Open inflation

When the government does not attempt to prevent price rise, inflation is said to be open. Thus inflation is open when prices rise without any interruption. In open inflation the free market mechanism is permitted to fulfill its historic function of rationing the short supply of goods and distribute them according to consumers ability to pay. Therefore the essential characteristics of an open inflation lie in the operation of the price mechanism as the sole distributing agent.

Monetary Measures

Repo rates were raised and CRR also went up to make credit dearer. (Note: CRR = Cash Reserve Ratio)

Represses inflation
When the government interrupts a price rise, there is a repressed or suppressed inflation. Thus it refers to those conditions in which price increases are prevented at the present time through an adoption of certain measures like price controls and rationing by the government but they are rise on the removal of such controls and rationing. The essential characteristic of repressed inflation, in contrast to inflation, is that the former seeks to prevent distribution through price rise under free-market mechanism and substitutes instead a distribution system based on controls.

Inflation tax
Price rise means more money being paid by the consumers for what they buy. Thus it is a type of tax, hence called as Inflation tax.

The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002

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Process by which illegal funds and assets are converted into legitimate funds and assets.

The Need for Money Laundering Act

Part of International / National commitment to fight terrorism, Organized Crime Syndicates, major economic offenders by targeting their financial resources.
PMLA, 2002 fills the gap in the Criminal Justice System where attachment of proceeds of crimes was very difficult in the existing Major Criminal Acts.

The FATF

Established by the G-7 Summit in Paris in July 1989 to examine measures to combat money laundering.
An inter-governmental body whose purpose is to establish international standards and promote national and international policies to combat money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF).

Membership of FATF

The 36 members (34 countries and 2 regional bodies) of the FATF and the members of EIGHT FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs) have all directly committed to implement the FATF standards.
The Gulf Cooperation Council is a member of the FATF.
The European Union is a member of the FATF.

The role of the FATF

40+9 Recommendations (the FATF standards) : Establish international standards to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Mutual evaluation system : Assess compliance with the FATF standards.
Typologies work : Study methods and techniques of money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF).

Objectives of FATF Standards

Provide a comprehensive set of measures to enable all countries to implement effective anti-money laundering (AML) / counter-terrorist financing (CFT) systems that will protect the world-wide financial system from misuse by organised crime and terrorist financiers.
Foster good governance and longer term economic development

Overview of the standards

The 40 Recommendations

Legal systems: criminalisation of money laundering, international cooperation.
Comprehensive set of preventative measures to be taken by financial institutions and non-financial businesses and professions (customer due diligence, record keeping).
Institutional framework and other measures (reporting of suspicious transactions, compliance, regulation and supervision, sanctions).
International cooperation: mutual legal assistance, extradition, information sharing.

The 9 Special Recommendations on Terrorist Financing

Ratify United Nations instruments.
Criminalise terrorist financing.
Freeze and confiscate assets.
Report suspicious transactions.
International cooperation.
Protect against abuse of alternative remittance systems and abuse of non-profit organisations.
Ensure originator information on wire transfers
Detect cash couriers.

FATF issued revised Recommendation in Feb 2012 . The new recommendations are 40 in numbers and subsumes the earlier 40+9 recommendations

Parliamentary History of the Law

The PML bill, 1998 was introduced in Lok Sabha on 04-08-1998.
Referred to Standing committee on finance on 05-08-1998.
The committee submitted its report on 04-03-1999.
The bill was presented in Rajya Sabha on 08-03-1999.
The PML, Bill 1999 was presented in Lok Sabha on 29-10-1999.
The PML, Bill 1999 was passed in Lok Sabha on 02-12-1999.
Rajya Sabha referred the bill to Select committee.
The committee finalised its report on 24th July, 2000.
The present act after being passed by both the houses received the assent of the president on 17th January, 2003.

Preamble to PMLA 2002

“An Act to prevent money laundering and to provide for confiscation of property derived from, or involved in money laundering and for matters connected or incidental thereto”

PMLA 2002: Key Concepts

Offence of Money Laundering – attempt to indulge or knowingly assist or knowingly is a party or is actually involved in any process or activity connected to proceeds of crime including its concealment, possession, acquisition or use and projecting or claiming it as untainted property .
Proceeds of Crime - Assets obtained as a result of Criminal activity related to Scheduled Offence

Scheduled Offences

Schedule to PMLA has 156 Offences under 28 criminal acts :

Indian Penal Code (IPC) ; Narcotic Drugs And Psychotrophic Substances Act (NDPS) ; Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) ; Explosive Substances Act
Arms Act ; Wild life Protection Act ; Immoral Traffic Act; Prevention of Corruption Act ; The Explosive Act ; SEBI Act ; Customs Act ; Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act ; Child Labour (Prohibition and regulation) Act ; Trans Plantation of Human Organ Act ; The Juvenile Justice Act ; The Emigration Act ; The Passports Act ; The Foreigners Act ;
The Copyright Act ; The Trade Marks Act ; The Information Technology Act ; The Biological Diversity Act ; The Protection of Plant Varieties And Farmers Right Act ; The Environmental Protection Act ; The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act ; The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.

Salient Features

Effective provisions for attachment and confiscation of proceeds of crime
Provisions for Overseas investigations and attachment of properties abroad
Special Courts set up by Government across the Country for prosecution
Provision for disclosure by banks, financial institutions and intermediaries – Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)
Burden of proof on accused to prove that proceeds of crime are untainted
Statements recorded by ED Officers admissible as evidence

The PMLA Partnership

Action under PMLA results in depriving offender of proceeds of crime.
It is an additional tool in the hands of LEAs investigating economic offences and other organized crimes including terrorist, drug crimes
Co-ordination among law enforcement agencies enforcing the Scheduled Offences and the ED can be effective deterrent to Organized Crime Syndicates.
Evidence gathered during PMLA investigations can supplement the case of prosecution in the case of predicate offence

Trade Based Money Laundering

There are three main methods by which criminal organisations and terrorist financiers move money for the purpose of disguising its origins and integrating it into the formal economy :

use of the financial system;
physical movement of money (e.g. through the use of cash couriers);
through the physical movement of goods through the trade system.

Trade-based money laundering is defined as the process of disguising the proceeds of crime and moving value through the use of trade transactions in an attempt to legitimise their illicit origins. In practice, this can be achieved through the misrepresentation of the price, quantity or quality of imports or exports. Moreover, trade-based money laundering techniques vary in complexity and are frequently used in combination with other money laundering techniques to further obscure the money trail.

How it is possible

The international trade system is subject to a wide range of risks and vulnerabilities due to:

The enormous volume of trade flows,
The complexity associated with (often multiple) foreign exchange transactions and recourse to diverse financing arrangements;
The additional complexity that can arise from the practice of mixing illicit funds with the cash flows of legitimate businesses;
The limited recourse to verification procedures or to exchange customs data between countries.
Research suggests that most customs agencies inspect less than 5 percent of all cargo shipments entering or leaving their jurisdictions.

Examples of Trade-Based Money Laundering

over- and under-invoicing of goods and services;
multiple invoicing of goods and services;
falsely described goods and services.

Indicators and Trends

Items priced well over or under market value
Mismatch between customer and items ordered
Business transfers made for no apparent reason
Third-party financing
Packaging inconsistent with contents
Routing is circuitous or economically illogical.
Size or weight of goods is inconsistent with contents

Indian Culture - Indian Martial Arts

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Martial arts mean “arts concerned with the waging of war”. Various Indian Martial arts have originated from various ancient war skills. It gives & takes features from Indian yoga, dance & performing arts. Many Indian dances have inspired & taken routines from the present martial arts. Dance artist who also knew martial arts & incorporated them in their routines were considered “special”.

BRITISH ANGLE
They have their origin in the ancient India. But many of these martial arts were prohibited by British in the wake of various protests that started from 1820’s. But many of these continued & some of them were reviewed again from 1910 & got prominence after Independence.
IS INDIAN MARTIAL ART REALLY ANCIENT ?
Yes. Indian martial art is much ancient & even more ancient than China. It is said that one Buddhist monk Bodhidharma took the knowledge of Indian Martial art to China & spread there.
1. Kalarippayattu (Kerala specially) & rest of south

Weapon based type
“Kalari” means arena. “Payattu” means combat/fighting.
Involves strikes, kicks, grappling, preset forms, weaponry and healing methods, the footwork movement
Kerala’s “Kathakali” incorporates greatly of this in their routines
Considered older than Chinese martial arts
Associated Legend: This art form was taught to early masters of this by Parashurama (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) to protect the land he created.

2. Malla-Yuddha (South India)

Combat-Wrestling type. Unarmed type.
Four types:

1. Hanumanti – for technical superiority
2. Jambuvanti – focuses on locking and holding till opponent gives up
3. Jarasandhi – breaking limbs and joints
4. Bhimaseni – focuses on sheer strength

3. Silambam (Tamil Nadu)

Weapon based type
Variety of weapons used.
Majorly used “Silambam staff” as a weapon. (staff – a traditional pole weapon. It has many variants from just a stick to having knife at one end)
Foot movements plays a key role
Movements of animals like snake, tiger, elephant and eagle used
“Kuttu varisai” – a variant of silambam & uses no weapon
Associated Legend: this martial art was developed by Lord Muruga (son of Lord Shiva, other name – Kartekeya) & sage Agasthya
Travelled from Tamil Nadu to Malaysia

4. Gatka (Punjab)

Weapon based
Used by Sikhs mainly
Gatka means – “One whose freedom belongs to race”
Stick, Sword, kirpan or kataar used as weapon

5. Musti Yuddha (Varanasi)

unarmed type
Punches, kicks, knees and elbow strikes used

6. Thang Ta (Manipur)

Weapon Based
“Thang” means sword. “Ta” means spear.
Anything from sword or spear can be used.
Other weapons used are shield and axe.
Used in three different ways

1. As absolutely ritual in nature
2. As spectacular performance
3. As actual Fighting technique

7. Lathi (Punjab & Bengal)

Weapon Based
Cane Sticks used.
Popular more in villages

8. Mardani Khel (Kolhapur, Maharashtra)

Weapon Based
Created by Marathas
Suitable for hilly regions
Uses sword mainly & needs rapid movements

9. Pari-Khanda (Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha)

Weapon Based
Created by Rajputs
“Pari” means shield & “Khanda” means sword (according to Chhau rulers)
Gave birth to Chhau dance

10. Inbuan Wrestling (Mizoram)

Unarmed Type
Has strict rules prohibiting kicking, stepping out of the circle and bending of the knees.
Aim is to lift the opponent off his feet while strictly adhering to the rules
Catching hold of the belt worn by the wrestlers around the waist; it has to remain tight all through the game.

11. Kuttu Varisai (South India)

Unarmed Type
“Kuttu Varisai” means empty hand combat
used to improve footwork and athleticism through gymnastics, stretching, yoga and breathing exercises
use of animal-based sets which includes tiger, snake, elephant, eagle and monkey

12. Cheibi Gadga (Manipur)

Weapon Based
Uses sword & shield
Victory depends more on skill than on muscle power

13. Sarit-Sarak (Manipur)

Unarmed Type
Used to fight with armed or unarmed opponent
Perfect in its evasive and offensive action

14. Thoda (Himachal Pradesh)

Weapon Based
Originated from the times of Mahabharata
Generally based on archery skills
“Thoda” is the round piece of wood fixed to the head of the arrow

15. Mukna (Manipur)

Unarmed
Wrestling Type
Two men with their hands holding clothe bands on each other waists wrestle with one another and attempts to throw the other down, and the victor should always be on top of the one falling down

16. Lakna-Phanaba (Manipur)

Unarmed
Wrestling Type

17. Karra Samu (Andhra Pradesh)

Armed Type
Basically stick fighting

18. Kathi Samu (Andhra Pradesh)

Armed Type
Basically sword fighting

River Water Disputes in India

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Common Features of the Water Disputes in India

Whatever may be the constitutional scenario applicable to each particular dispute, most disputes seem to have shared the features noted below –
(a) Vagueness regarding the legal doctrine applicable.
(b) Acrimonious tension between the parties.
(c) Overall delay in completion of the adjudication, due to various factors.
(d) Similar other unsatisfactory features.
There is, of course, an occasional silver lining. Some disputes have, for example, been resolved by mutual agreement – even if the parties reached agreement, only after the lapse of a long period.

Causes of Inter-state River Water disputes

River doesn’t follow political limits
Uneven distribution of water resources
Increasing Rainfall variability and frequent draughts
Increasing demand of river water
Regionalization of the national polity

Some provisions in the British Times

1. Government of India Act, 1919

When dyarchy was introduced in the Provinces (in British India) under the Government of India Act, 1919, irrigation became a Provincial, but “reserved” subject. Before the Provincial Government could take up any project involving the interests of more than one Province, the prior approval of the Secretary of State had to be obtained
2. Government of India Act, 1935

(a) The Government of India Act, 1935 (Provincial List, Entry 19) placed irrigation within the sole jurisdiction of the Provinces.
(b) However, sections 130 to 133 of the Act of 1935 made detailed provisions as to inter-Provincial, etc., disputes concerning water. The relevant provisions applied to “States” also, i.e., to those Indian States, which may ultimately join the contemplated federation. Any Province or State whose interests were perpetually affected in respect of water supplies from a natural source, owing to the action of another Province or State, could complain to the Governor General.
(c) The Governor General was required to appoint a Commission to investigate and report to him on the matters to which the complaint related (unless, in his opinion, the issues were not of sufficient importance).
(d) After consideration of the report, the Governor General was to give such decision as he deemed proper.
(e) The order of the Governor General was to be binding upon the parties. However, before the Governor General gave his decision, the Governor of any State (or the ruler of a Princely State), affected by the order, could require the Governor General to refer the matter to His Majesty in Council, which could give such decision as it deemed proper.
(f) Jurisdiction of the Federal Court (or any other court) was barred, if action to lodge a complaint had been taken by the Governor of a Province, etc

Constitutional Provisions for the Laws applicable to River Water Dispute Settlement

Entry 17 in the State list makes water a state subject but qualified by Entry 56 in the Union List, which states: “Regulation and development of interstate rivers valleys to the extent to which such regulation and development under the control of the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest.
Article 262 (1) of the Indian constitution states that Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute of complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-state river or river valley.
Article 262 (2) of the Indian constitution states that Parliament may by law provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute.
In short, the whole responsibility of solving water dispute lies with the Parliament.
The River Boards Act, 1956 & the Inter State Water Disputes Act, 1956 have been created for such a purpose.
The Inter State River Water Disputes Act (IRWDA), 1956 is legislation passed under article 262 of the constitution. Section 3 of this act authorizes states to request the Centre to set up a Tribunal if a water dispute has arisen or is likely to arise. Section 4 empowers the Centre to set up a Tribunal if it is of the opinion that the dispute cannot be settled by negotiation. Section 11 of this act states that Supreme Court has no jurisdiction in respect of a water dispute that has been referred to the Tribunal.
The only difference between the Government of India Act, 1935 and the present provisions is that the mandate to set up a Tribunal has been reduced to a discretionary status (i.e. at will & not compulsory).
Another important provision in the Constitution is Article 39 (b) which mandates the State to direct its policy towards securing that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community are so distributed as best to subserve the common good.

The River Boards Act 1956

(a) The River Boards Act, 1956, provides for the establishment of River Boards, for the regulation and development of inter-State rivers and river valleys. On a request received from a State Government or otherwise, the Central Government may establish a Board for “advising the Government interested” in relation to such matters concerning the regulation or development of an inter-State river or river valley (or any specified part) as may be notified by the Central Government.
(b) Different Boards may be established for different inter-State rivers or river valleys.
(c) The Board is to consist of the Chairman and such other members as the Central Government thinks fit to appoint. They must be persons having special knowledge and experience in irrigation, electrical engineering, flood control, navigation, water conservation, soil conservation, administration or finance.
(d) Functions of the Board are set out in detail in section 13 of the Act. Subject-wise, they are very wide, covering conservation of the water resources of the inter-State river, schemes for irrigation and drainage, development of hydroelectric power, schemes for flood control, promotion of navigation, control of soil& erosion and prevention of pollution. But the functions of the Board are advisory and not adjudicatory.
(e) By section 14(3), the Board is directed to consult all the Governments concerned and to secure their agreement, as far as possible.

Thereafter, by section 15, the Board is empowered to frame schemes, obtain comments of the interested Governments and finalise a scheme. [Section 15(4)] But the schemes do not seem to have a mandatory force. It appears from section 15(5) and section 15(6) of the Act that:
(i) the Board can advise the Governments concerned as to execution of the scheme
(ii) the Central Government can “assist the Governments interested”, in taking such steps as may be necessary, for execution of the scheme

Approaches of Resolution

Sub-basin Division Approach:
The whole river basin is divided into sub-basins and thereafter the concerned parties are allocated with the command of sub-basin lying within their area.
Principle of Equitable apportionment: The proportionate share of states are decided on the basis of their respective property rights, area of drainage, investments, users and total volume of water in the river.

International Law on Settlement of Water Disputes
The International Law commission in its 32nd conference at Helsinki enunciated the four major principles relating to settlement of water disputes. Of these four the Harmon doctrine and the Natural flow theory which conferred absolute rights on the upper and lower riparian (riparian - Of or relating to or located on the banks of a river or stream) respectively, are obsolete. The two relevant theories are:
Equitable Apportionment Theory: This theory envisages the maximum benefit to all riparian states by apportioning water on principles of equity and not equality. Thus, persisting uses by either upper or lower riparian are given due consideration. Doctrine of Prior Appropriation: Article VII of the Helsinki Rules provide that an existing reasonable use may continue in operation unless there are factors which are overwhelmingly against its continuance. Thus, the right to use arises by appropriation and a prior user is given due preference. In effect the prescriptive rights of both riparian’s are protected.
Community of Interest Theory: This theory states that river waters belong to the whole community and must hence be shared equitably to achieve maximum benefit. The underlying premise is that a river is one unit and defies all boundaries.
Other doctrines:
Doctrine rights of Riparian: The doctrine of riparian rights emphasises the recognition of equal rights to the use of water by all owners of land abutting a river, as long as there is no resulting interference with the rights of other riparian owners. The doctrine may not be of much use in the context of inter-State rivers.
Doctrine of prior apportionment: The cardinal rule of the doctrine is, that priority of appropriation gives seniority of rights.

United Nation (UN) and the International Law Commission (ILC)

In 1970s, UN commissioned the International Law Commission (ILC), a UN body with legal experts nominated by states, to study international law for transboundary water sharing of international water courses. ILC's work resulted in the UN Convention in 1997.
The UN Convention is yet to come into force since it has not received the minimum 35 number of ratifications.
The Convention gives due importance to both the principles of 'reasonable and equitable utilization' and 'no significant harm.'
Reasons for reluctance of countries to ratify the convention are not difficult to speculate. These may be the following. First, the highly specific nature of stakes involved in transboundary water sharing makes the states wary of generalized codification of principles. Second, asymmetric politics of upper riparian versus lower riparian states are dialectic and dynamic. Disputes emerge, evolve and recur as sequential response to reciprocities not restricted to just water sharing, but also include the spectrum of issues that impact political relations.
Article 12.1 Equitable Utilization: Basin States shall in their respective territories manage the waters of an international drainage basin in an equitable and reasonable manner having due regard for the obligation not to cause significant harm to other basin States.
Article 16: Avoidance of Transboundary Harm: Basin States, in managing the waters of an international drainage basin, shall refrain from and prevent acts or omissions within their territory that cause significant harm to another basin State having due regard for the right of each basin State to make equitable and reasonable use of the waters.

India and the International Laws

Both the doctrine of prior appropriation and equitable apportionment are applicable here. They have been applied in both the Narmada Water Dispute and the Ravi-Beas Dispute
The Ravi-Beas Award clearly states that, “…it is now well settled that in deciding water disputes relating to an inter-state river, the rule of equitable apportionment of benefits of a river should be applied.
Both awards extensively quote the Helsinki Rules, 1966 which lay down the guidelines for equitable apportionment.
Article VII states that past and existing utilization must also be considered to arrive at a solution based on equitable apportionment.

Problems with the Inter-State Water Disputes Act of 1956

States have sometimes refused to accept the decisions of the tribunals. Therefore, arbitration is not binding.
Significantly, the courts have also been ignored on occasion.
Finally, the center has sometimes intervened directly as well, but in the most intractable cases, such as the sharing of the Ravi-Beas waters among Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, and Punjab, central intervention, too, has been unsuccessful.
In summary, an unambiguous institutional mechanism for settling interstate water disputes does not exist. Nevertheless, water disputes are sometimes settled. Economic analysis is necessary to illuminate whether and how water disputes get resolved in India.
The Inter-State Water Disputes Act seems to provide fairly clear procedures for handling disputes. At the same time, however, the law permits considerable discretion, and different disputes have followed diverse paths to settlement, or in a few cases, continued disagreement.

Current Changes

About IWD (Interstate river Water Dispute) resolution

Ministry recently announced a plan to create a permanent tribunal for IWD resolution.
Reasons to create such a tribunal:- 1) The delays in dispute resolution 2) Tendency of the state to approach the Supreme Court for recurring disputes
The IRWDA (Interstate River Water Disputes Act 1956) provides for setting up a one-time ad hoc tribunal for IWD adjudication. The Act endows the tribunal’s decision with the force of a Supreme Court decree.
Problems: 1) A permanent tribunal contradicts this intent by providing a permanent space for litigation. The time-frame restrictions may not help much. 2) IWDs are often symptoms of larger interstate relations and have crucial implications for the (re)making of federal democracy. IWD resolution mechanisms should be designed in a changing context of Centre - State and State-State relations.
On the other hand, due to the bar on its jurisdiction, the Supreme Court cannot engage with disputes beyond providing effect to tribunal awards. States fail to comply with awards, especially when the monsoon fails or due to political compulsions.
In this changing context of IWD politics, relying entirely on legal remedies, like permanent tribunal, has the danger of leading to extended litigations and antagonistic interstate politics.
Politicization of IWDs will continue and it is imperative to mitigate the propensity for antagonistic politics between States.
For this, legal adjudication needs to be supplemented by right institutional interventions: ex-ante for negotiations and agreements, and ex-post for compliance and implementation.

Loopholes and solutions of River Water Dispute in India

Sr. No.	Problems	Solutions
1.	Property Rights issues	Declaration of water as a national property
2.	Plethora of actors	State government allowed to be the only party
3.	Delays	Setting up of time frame through laws
4.	Enforcement	Commission of an enforcement body
5.	Political Interferences	Experts & judges be member rather than politicians

Some Other Solutions

Creation of a quasi-independent hierarchy of institutions. e.g. National Water Dispute Tribunal. Under it there can be Dispute Resolution, Perceptive planning, information gathering, Enforcement and maintenance.
Drainage basin oriented planning like Damodar Valley Project or Murray Water Commission (Australia)
Defining priorities of water allocation.

Conclusion

Any award given by any tribunal must consider the prescriptive rights of any state.
To develop the machinery for settlement of inter-state river Water disputes, Section 4 of the Act must be amended setting a time frame for constituting the Tribunal by the Centre.
It must be clearly mentioned in Section 11 of the Act, that the jurisdiction of the courts is barred only for matters already referred to the Tribunal, and the Courts have jurisdiction to order constitution of a tribunal.
Further, the Tribunal must be made equal to a Court for purpose of enforcing the Award.
The Judgment of the Supreme Court in recognizing that Article 262 is not a bar to its jurisdiction under Article 131 pr Article 32 has given a new dimension to river water dispute settlement procedures. Thus, the paramount consideration of farmer’s rights has been suitably recognized.
The policy makers must constitute a National Water Board or any such Central Authority by a statute which will have total control over the use, distribution and control of interstate river waters and specific guidelines must be mentioned for the sharing of waters. Such Authority or Board must also be given the power to take penal action against environmental offenders.
It must be realized that any use of water must be a planned use, as water is the paramount necessity of a decent life.

High Court

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INTRODUCTION

Article 214 to 231 in part VI of constitution deals with the organization, procedure, jurisdiction, power of the high court. The high court is the top judicial body of state. The high court operates under the Supreme Court and above the subordinate courts.

British Times

In 1862 institution of high court were set up in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras.
In British times each provinces has its separate high court.
In 1866 a fourth high court was set up in Allahabad.
After the independence, high court existing in provinces become the high court of that states.

Some typical points about High Court

According to Indian constitution each state has its own high court but the amendment act of 1956 authorizes the parliament to have high court for more than one state or union territory.
At present there are 24 high courts in India.
Delhi is the only union territory who has its separate high court from 1966.
The other union territory fall under the jurisdiction of different high courts.

Parliament’s Power in relation to High Court

The parliament can extend the jurisdiction of high court to any union territory or exclude it.
The power to establish common high court for two or more states or for two or more states and a union territory was given to Parliament by 7th Amendment Act, 1956.

President’s Power in relation to High Court

President has the power to appoint additional judges for a temporary period (not more than 2 years) for some added load of work in the High Court.
If any of the permanent judge of high court is absent then President can appoint the acting judge ( other than the chief justices ) to perform his duties or he is appointed as chief justices for temporary period (as the case may be).
Acting judge can hold office till the permanent judge can resume his office. But the acting judge cannot hold offices beyond the age of 62 years.

Constitution of High Court

Every high court consist of a chief justices and other judges (president appoint according to the necessity).
Constitution does not specify the number of judges but this power vest in the hands of president. He determines the number of judges from time to time and according to necessity.

Appointment of Judges

All the judges of high court are appointed by president.
The Chief Justice of the High Court is appointed by President after the consultation of Chief Justice of India (it involves consultation with Chief justice of India & other two senior most judges) and the Governor of concerned state.
Other judges are appointed with the consultation of Chief Justice of the concerned High Court.
If the high court belongs to two or more state then for the appointment of judges, the Governor of all the states concerned are consulted by the President.

CASES RELATED TO THE APPOINMENT OF HC JUDGES

Supreme court ruled in second judges case 1993 that no appointment of a judge of high court can be made unless it is in conformity with opinion of chief justice of India.
In the third judge case 1998, Supreme Court said that for the appointment of high court judges, the chief justice of India should consult a collegiums of two senior judges of supreme court. So the only opinion of chief justice of India alone is not sufficient.

QUALIFICATION FOR THE APPOINMENT AS HIGH COURT JUDGES

Should be citizen of India.
Have held a judicial offices for ten years in Indian territory
He should have been an advocate of high court for ten years.
Not being over 62 years.

TENURE OF JUDGES OF HIGH COURT

He can hold offices up to the age of 62 years
Can resin from offices by giving written application to the president.
If he becomes the judge of supreme court or if he is transferred from one high court to another then it means that he has vacated his office.
He can be removed from office by president on the recommendation of the parliament which has passed such a move by special majority (i.e. by majority of the total house & be passed by at least two-third of the total members present and voting).

SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES

Salary is charged on Consolidated Fund of State.
But the pension of the High Court judge is given from the Consolidated Fund of India.
In 2009 salaries of chief justice was increased from Rs. 30,000 to 90,000 per month and of judges from 26,000 to 80,000 per month.
They have allowances like free accommodation and other facilities like medical, car, telephone…etc
The pension to the chief justices and other judges is 50% of their last salary.
Parliament has the power to decide the salaries, pension, leaves and allowances from time to time.
Parliament cannot change their allowances after their appointment, except during the financial emergency.

INDEPENDANCES OF THE JUDGES

The high court judge is removed as in manner provided for the removal of a judge of supreme court ( by consulting the house of parliament with special majority under article 218 )
Salaries and allowances of the judges of high court shall be charged from consolidated fund of state under article 202 (3) d.
No one can change the salaries, pension, and allowances after the appointment of judge under the article 221.

REMOVAL OF THE JUDGE

High court judge is removed only the order of the president ( if he receives order from parliament and that order must be supported by a special majority )
He can be removed from his office on the grounds of proved misbehavior or incapacity .
The high court judge is removed in the same manner as that of judge of supreme court.
The impeachment process for the removal of the judge of high court:

Removal motion should be signed by 100 members of Lok Sabha and 50 member of Rajya Sabha and submit to the speaker or chairman as the case may be.
He can accept the motion or refuse it.
If speaker or chairman accept this motion then they have to appoint the three member committee to investigate this matter.
Committee should consist of chief justices or the judge of supreme court, chief justices of high court and a distinguished jurist.
If the committee finds the judge guilty then house can carry on the procedure.
If both the houses pass the motion with special majority and addresses the president for the removal of the judge, the judge stands removed.
At last president passes an order for the removal of judge. Up till now no judge of high court has been removed based on the above procedure.

Transfer of Judges

President can transfer any judge of high court to any other high court.
But he must first consult Chief Justice of India.
In 1977, SC ruled that the transfer of any High Court judge should be exercised only if there is some underlying public interest & it should not be exercised as a way of punishment.
Judicial review is available in such cases but only the judge being transferred can apply for judicial review.
In third judges case (1998), SC ruled that while President is consulting the Chief Justice of India it is not only the Chief Justice of India but President should consult a collegium consisting of Chief Justice of India, four seniormost judges of the supreme court & the chief justice of the two high courts (one being the HC where the judge is being transferred & the other being the one in which the judge is working presently)

Difference between the writs issued by High Court and the writs issued by Supreme Court

Supreme Court can issue writs only in case of enforcement of fundamental rights. High court can issue writs in case of enforcement of fundamental rights as well as enforcement of any ordinary law. This writ jurisdiction of Supreme Court is narrower than High court.
SC can issue writs against a person or government throughout the territory of India whereas High Court can issue writs against a person or government located only in the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court. High court can issue writs outside it’s territorial jurisdiction only if the cause of action arises within its territorial jurisdiction.
Supreme Court issues a writ by use of Article 32 whereas High court issues a writ by using Article 226.
A remedy under Article 32 is in itself a Fundamental Right & hence Supreme Court can’t refuse to exercise its writ jurisdiction. A remedy under article 226 (used by High Court) is discretionary & hence High Court can accept or reject to exercise it.

Anti-Defection law

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Introduction

Defection simply by dictionary meaning means withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or responsibility. In relation to politics, defection means withdrawing one’s loyalty towards his own political party & accepting other party’s membership. Defection was very common in 1980’s and 1990’s and hence the Anti-Defection law was enacted in 1985 so as to maintain the political stability.

What is Anti-Defection Law?

Anti-Defection is the law by which the persons who do defection are punished according to the rules of the law.
A person so found doing defection is disqualified to be a member of Parliament or state legislature (as the case may be).

Some points to remember about Anti-Defection Law

Anti-Defection Law created by 52nd Amendment Act, 1985.
It changed four articles in the constitution & added tenth schedule to the constitution.
By 91st Amendment Act, 2003, a provision was omitted in the law. It omitted an exception provision i.e. disqualification on ground of defection not to apply in case of split.

Note on the Anti-Defection Law
Under the tenth schedule following provision are given for the disqualification of members of parliament and state legislature on the ground of defection:

1. Power of the Presiding officer
The presiding officer can make rules to give effect to the provision of the tenth schedule, all such rules must be placed in house before the 30 days. The members of house may approve or modify or disapprove it. The presiding officer can resort to defection only if any member of house gives a complaint against it (by new Supreme Court Decision – Any person who is not even the member of the house can complaint to the Presiding officer about the defection). Presiding officer has to give a chance to the accused person to put his side in front of the house before taking the final decision.

2. Disqualification:

A. For a Political party member

A person is disqualified of being a member of the house if

That member votes or doesn’t give vote which is contrary to his political party’s decision. Prior permission of the party is needed in such a case.
That member gives up his membership of the political party on his own i.e. by self-decision.

In short, a member of a political party has to obey all the directions given by the party.

B. For an independent member
An independent member is disqualified to be a member of the house if he joins any political party after the elections. This provision has been put because an independent member win’s election on his own & not because of any political party. Joining a party amounts to corruption & that is why such a provision has been put.

C. For a nominated member
Nominated members of the house are allowed to join any political party which they wish for. But they have to do this in a definite time frame. They need to join a political party (if they wish) within a period of six months from the date of joining of any of the house. If they join any political party after six months from the date of joining the house, they are disqualified to be a member of that house.

3. Some Exceptions to the law
Disqualification because of defection does not apply in the following two cases:

If any member of the house resigns from his political party because of the reason that his political party has got merged with some another political party. (Merger takes place if two-third members of the political party in question are ready for such a merger)
If any member of house resigns from his political party because of the reason that such a member has been elected as the presiding officer of that house. (Presiding officer of Lok Sabha – Speaker, Deputy-Speaker. Presiding officer of Rajya Sabha – Vice-Chairman. Chairman is not included in this case as he is the Vice-President of India.)

4. Decision making authority

All the decisions in regard to defection under the tenth schedule is decided by the presiding officer of the house (In case of Lok Sabha – Speaker/Deputy-Speaker. In case of Rajya Sabha – Chairman/Vice- Chairman)
Initially the decision of the presiding officer was considered as final & was not allowed to be questioned in the court of law.
But Supreme Court in Kihoto Hollohan Case (1993) ruled that the way in which the presiding officer function under tenth schedule is like a tribunal. Hence, unlike all other tribunals, the decision of the presiding officer is subject to review. In short, Supreme Court declared the provision of “presiding officer’s decision as final” as constitutionally invalid & as it takes away the power of Supreme Court & High Court.

USES OF THE ACT

discourage and prevent political defections.
It stabilizes the political parties.
Its main intension is to strengthen the Indian parliamentary democracy by curbing unprincipled and unethical political defection.

ADVANTAGES

It reduces the political corruption.
It gives the greater stability in political bodies by avoiding the moving from one political party to another.
It gives constitutional recognition to the existences of political parties.

CRITICISM

⇒ Vesting all the decision making power on such an important matter of i.e. defection in the presiding officer is criticized on two grounds:
1. Presiding officer may not act in an impartial manner as he also belongs to one or the other party.
2. Presiding officer lacks the legal knowledge and experience to give decisions on such cases.

Defection Vs. Dissent: No difference has been put about these two terms. Dissent means using one owns opinion in case of voting on some topic in the house. According to Anti-Defection law, a member has to follow his party’s decision & he can’t use his own opinion while casting a vote. In short, this law makes the political party the boss & hence the high command culture flourishes.
Nominated Vs. Independent: This law is biased against nominated & independent members of the house. Any nominated member is allowed to join any political party while an independent member is not allowed to join any political party.
Individual Vs. Group Defection: This law works only in the case of individual defection. If a group in any political party defects, then this law can’t be applied in that case.
This law does not provide for expulsion of a legislator from his party for his activities outside the legislature.

Amendment
91st Amendment Act of 2003 brought about some changes which helped to limit the size of the Council of Ministers, so that defectors (persons found under defection) can’t hold any public office.

For Center: The total number of ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the Central Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha.
For State: The Total number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a state shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the Legislative Assembly of the state. But the number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, in a state shall not be less than 12.
A defector can’t be appointed as a minister. (it applies in the case of central as well as state legislature.
A defector (in central or state legislature) can’t hold any remunerative political post.
The provision of the tenth schedule (anti-defection law) pertaining to exemption from disqualification in case of split by one-third members of the legislature party has been deleted. It means that the defectors have no more protection on grounds of splits.

Panchayati Raj

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Introduction

The Panchayats were in existence from 1960s. But they received constitutional status by the 73rd constitutional amendment act of 1992. It was created by respective state legislature acts so as to function democracy from grass root level, so it’s the prime necessity of democracy to develop rural areas.

Some facts

Rajasthan was the first state to establish Panchayti Raj. It was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on October 2, 1959 in Nagaur district.
Second state to establish Panchayati Raj was Andhra Pradesh. (1959).

Panchayat System

At village level
The panchayat at district level
The panchayat between village and district level who’s population is more than 20 lakhs.

Structure

All the members of panchayat are elected by peoples directly.
Chairpersons of the panchayats at the intermediate and district levels shall be elected indirectly – by and from amongst the elected members therof.
Chairperson of a panchayat at the village level shall be elected in such a manner as the state legislature determines.

Reservation
1. FOR WOMEN
1/3rd seats are reserved for women including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to ST and STs.
2. FOR SC AND STs
The reservation for SC and NTs is according to the popullaton in that area.

Note: Also, a state has been given power to reserve seats in any panchayat or offices of chairperson in the panchayat at any level for backward classes.

POWER OF STATE LAGISLATURE
The state can provide reservation for the office of chairperson in panchayat or the village and other level in fervor of backward class.

QUALIFICATION OF MEMBER
Person must have completed 21 years of his age ( Note: for state legislature its 25 years)

ELECTIONS OF PANCHYATS

Article 243k deals with the free and fair elections of Panchayats
Elections of panchayats are carried out by state election commission. The state election commissioner is appointed by governor of the concerned state.

Duration of Panchayats

Panchayat at each level (i.e. district, intermediate & village level) has a duration of five years. (fresh elections for the offices should be held before expiry of the duration of five years)
It can be dissolved before expiry of its term. (fresh elections in such a case should be held before the expiry of six months from the date of its dissolution.

Powers and Functions of Panchayats
All the powers & functions of panchayats are made by respective state governments.

Power of Panchayats in relations to finance
The state legislature (may) gives power to the panchayts to collect, levy the appropriate tax duties.

Finance Commission
Governor constitutes a finance commission (after every 5 years), to review the financial position of the panachayats.

Committee gives the following recommendation to the governor.

Tax distribution between state and the panchayats.
Check the duties, taxes, tolls and fees which are assigned to the panchayats.
Determine the grant in aids to the panchayats.
Determine the things needed to improve the finance of the panchayats.

Eleventh Schedule
There are 29 functional items placed within the purview of panchayats:
1. Public distribution system.
2. Social welfare, including welfare of the handicapped, and mentally retarded.
3. Family welfare.
4. Market and fairs
5. Libraries
6. Technical training and vocational education
7. Poverty elevation program
8. Rural electrification, including distribuation of electricity.
9. Fuel and fodder
10. Rural housing
11. Small scale industries, including food producing industries.
12. Social forestry and farm forestry.
13. Animal husbandry, dairying, and poultry.
14. Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land consolidation and soil conservation.
15. Maintenances of community assets
16. Welfare of the weaker sections, and in particular, of the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes.
17. Women and child development.
18. Health and sanitation including hospitals, primary health centers and dispensaries.
19. Cultural activities
20. Adult and non formal education
21. Education including primary and secondary schools
22. Non convention energy sources.
23. Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, waterways, and other ways of communication
24. Drinking water
25. Khadi, village and cottage industries
26. Minor forests products
27. Fisheries
28. Minor irrigation , water management, and watershade development. Agriculture including agricultural extension.

COURTS INTERFARANCES

Under the article 329, courts have no jurisdiction to find the validity of law, relating to the allotment of seats, delimitation of constituencies, etc.
Court can’t question those matters related to election in panchayats.

73rd Amendment Act of 1992

This amendment act gave constitutional status to panchayat raj institutions.
Previously, creation of panchayats & its elections depended on the will of state government. Now, this amendment act had put an obligation on the state government about creation & the related elections.
Changes brought to the constitution:

Added Part IX to constitution.
Added eleventh schedule to constitution which has 29 functional items of the panchayats.

This amendment act gave effect to article 40 of the constitution which is actually in the directive principles. It states that state shall take steps to organize village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of selfgovernment.
It has divided the provisions into two types:

1. compulsory (these provisions are compulsory in nature & each state has to make rules so as to give effect to these provisions). They are:
a. Constitute a state finance commission every five years.
b. Fixing tenure of five years for panchayats
c. Reservation of seats for SCs & STs in panchayats at the three levels.
d. Indirect elections to the post of chairperson of panchayats at the intermediate and district levels.
e. Establishment of panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels.
f. Organisation of Gram sabha in a village or group of villages.
g. Direct elections to all seats in panchayats.
h. 21 years to be the minimum age for contesting elections to panchayats.
i. Reservation of one-third seats for women
j. Establishment of a state election commission for conducting elections to the panchayats.

2. voluntary (These provisions are not compulsory in nature & each state according to its conditions on will can make or forbid to make rules to give effect to these provisions). They are:
a. Granting financial powers to the panchayts
b. Granting powers and authority to the panchayts to enable them to function as institutions of self-government
c. Giving representation to members of the Parliament (both the Houses) and the state legislature (both the houses) in the panchayats at different levels falling within their constituencies.
d. Devolution of powers and responsibilities upon panchayats to prepare plans for economic development and social justice.
e. Providing reservation of seats for backward classes in the state at any level.

GRAM SABHA

Gram sabha is a basic foundation of panchayats.
Members of gram sabha include all the people in the area registered in the voter list.
Functions of gram sabha differ from state to state i.e. the functions of the gram sabha are decided by the concerned state legislature.

What is Ordinance?

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What is Ordinance?
Ordinance is a law issued by governor or president when the parliament is not in session.
Ordinance can be promulgated by President under Article 123 of the Constitution when the Parliament is not in session. (Note: President can withdraw any ordinance at any time)

Conditions related to this ordinance route:

President should be satisfied that such situation should exist that there is need to formulate.
Such ordinance should be approved by both the houses of Parliament within the period of 6 weeks from the reassembly of the Parliament.
Ordinance can’t be promulgated by President only on those provisions on which Parliament is entitled to make laws.

(Note: For Governor it is under Article 213. But Governor can’t make ordinances if: i) a bill containing such provisions would have to take permission of the President before its introduction ii) if that was to be reserved for President’s consideration.) (Note: For Administrator of UT: Article 239B)

Why is it in News?
Many bills were not passed by the current government & that is why ordinance route is being used by the current government for making laws.

Basics of Ordinance

It is never a preferred route to make law under democracy. Least preferred route. (Only in Emergency)
It is done in the situation which requires urgent attention.
If used even when such a law could have been made in parliament, it shows that government do not enjoy majority in the house.

Judicial review
Courts have uniformly held, in varying formulations, that the power of the President and the Governors to issue ordinances is in the nature of an emergency power. In A.K. Roy vs Union of India and R.C. Cooper vs Union of India (bank nationalisation case), the Supreme Court said that ordinance-making power was a legislative power given to the President and was not similar to the exercise of his executive powers. As such, ordinances are also “law” under Article 13.
Though the sheer profligacy in ordinance-making compelled the Supreme Court to start performing some sort of judicial review, there is as of now no clarity on the nature and extent of judicial review over ordinance-making.

In Favour

Parliament has been least productive in these years. (Many bills have not been passed).
So why not use ordinance route to make laws on urgent & pressing issues.
Political games are being played instead of the will to pass the bill.
It is increasing the pain & sufferings of the common citizen because of the very important bills like Public Grievance bill, Whistle Blower Bill are still yet to be passed.
It is the worst scenario in the parliamentary democracy.
There is urgent need & why not make ordnance. Next Lok Sabha will see what to do of this ordinance.
Once a bill lapse in any house it takes much time to re-introduce that bill in the house.

Criticism

House was not able to function for lot of time. ( 3 sessions spoilt)
Why the need of Ordinance now? It should have been done already if they (the ruling government) wanted it be.
Not an ethical way in current situations.
All these important & crucial bills are imperfect as sufficient deliberations has not taken place in the Parliament.
Increasing Bill Legitimacy: Bills should not have been introduced in the Lok Sabha. It should have been introduced in the Rajya Sabha as it would not lapse & can be deliberated easily in the Lok Sabha.
No one will question the ordinance but what about legitimacy.
Corporate bills (Banking privatization, pension regulatory authority bill) are getting passed easily then why not other bills. (Note: But on the contrary Food security bill & Land reforms Act was also passed which antagonized Corporate world)

Solution

Informally consult President first to get his view on this.
Take opposition party into confidence because there is question on the matter that which government will come to ruling. So that the bill do not lapse.
Leader of opposition & leader of current government should go to President & have a meeting to decide over the matter.

(Note: Many bills have been passed in 2011 & 2012. So can’t actually be said that governments for this period didn’t want any bill to pass)

Conclusion
Our Constitution gives vast powers to the executive to act independently of Parliament. It can, for example, declare a state of emergency, set up important administrative authorities such as the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and indeed the Planning Commission without having to seek parliamentary approval first. It then becomes imperative that the ordinance-making power be suitably restrained to create a balance of power between the executive and the legislature. Creating strong judicial review over ordinance-making may be one such mechanism.

Parliamentary Committees

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A committee is called a parliamentary committee if it meets the following requirements :

appointed by the house or nominated by the speaker or chairman.
work under the direction of the speaker.
It should present its report to the house or to the speaker or chairman.
It should have a secretariat provided by the lok sabha or rajya sabha.

The constitution of India makes a mention of these committees at different places, but without making any specific provisions regarding their composition, tenure, functions etc. all these matters are dealt by the rules of two houses.

Consultative Committee: A committee is called a Consultative committee or it is different from Parliamentary committee in the following ways:

They consists members from both the houses of parliament.
Ministers or ministers of state in charge can be chairman of the committee concerned with the ministry of that minister
They act as a bridge between members of parliament and ministers on government policies and effective governance.
These are constituted by ministry of parliamentary affairs. It takes responsibility of everything of the committee
The membership of this committee is voluntary and may vary. The maximum members may be 30 and minimum is 10.
They are constituted on commencement of new lok sabha and dissolved with end of term of lok sabha.

Parliamentary committees are of two types based on nature of functions: standing – permanent in nature – ad hoc – temporary in nature.

Standing Committees

1. Financial committees: They are three in number :

a. Public Accounts Committee:

it came into existence from the provisions of government of India act 1919.
consists of 15 members elected by the Lok Sabha and 7 members of the Rajya Sabha
A Minister is not eligible for election to this Committee.
Term : one year
Chairman : appointed by the speaker and chairman is invariably from opposition.

Purpose

to ascertain whether the money granted by Parliament has been spent by Government "within the scope of the Demand".
The Appropriation Accounts of the Government of India and the Audit Reports presented by the Comptroller and Auditor General mainly form the basis for the examination of the Committee.
Cases involving losses, nugatory expenditure and financial irregularities come in for severe criticism by the Committee.
The Committee is not concerned with questions of policy. It is concerned only with the execution of the policy laid down by Parliament and its results.
In fulfilling these functions, CAG assists the committee.

Limitations: It is not an executive body and its decisions are advisory in nature.

b. Estimates committee:

consists of 30 members who are elected by the Lok Sabha every year from amongst its members.
A Minister is not eligible for election to this Committee.
Term : one year.
Chairman : appointed by speaker and he is invariably from ruling party.

Purpose

to report what economies, improvements in organization, efficiency, or administrative reform, consistent with the policy underlying the estimates may be effected and to suggest alternative policies in order to bring about efficiency and economy in administration.
From time to time the Committee selects such of the estimates pertaining to a Ministry or a group of Ministries or the statutory and other Government bodies as may seem fit to the Committee.
The Committee also examines matters of special interest which may arise or come to light in the course of its work or which is specifically referred to it by the House or the Speaker.

Limitations: it post mortems reports after laid in parliament and decisions are advisory and importantly they do not have assistance from CAG.

c. Public undertakings:

created on the recommendation of Krishna Menon committee.
consists of 15 members elected by the Lok Sabha and 7 members of Rajya Sabha
Minister is not eligible for election to this Committee
Term : one year
Chairman : appointed from members of lok sabha only and he is appointed by speaker.

Purpose / Functions

to examine the reports and accounts of Public Undertakings;
to examine the reports, if any, of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Public Undertakings;
to examine in the context of the autonomy and efficiency of the Public Undertakings whether the affairs of the Public Undertakings are being managed in accordance with sound business principles and prudent commercial practices; and
such other functions vested in the Committee on Public Accounts and the Committee on Estimates in relation to the Public Undertakings as are not covered by clauses (a), (b) and (c) above and as may be allotted to the Committee by the Speaker from time to time.

The Committee does not, however, examine matters of major Government policy and matters of day-to-day administration of the Undertakings.

Limitations: its recommendations are advisory in nature and not binding.

Note: the members of all the above committees are elected according to the principle of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. All parties are squarely represented.

2. Departmental Standing Committees: A full-fledged system of 17 Departmentally Related Standing Committees came into being in April, 1993. These Committees cover under their jurisdiction all the Ministries/ Departments of the Government of India. These Committees are as under :

1. Committee on Commerce
2. Committee on Home Affairs
3. Committee on Human Resource Development
4. Committee on Industry
5. Committee on Science & Technology,Environment & Forests
6. Committee on Transport, Culture and Tourism
7. Committee on Agriculture
8. Committee on Information Technology
9. Committee on Defense
10. Committee on Energy
11. Committee on External Affairs
12. Committee on Finance
13. Committee on Food, Civil Supplies and Public Distribution
14. Committee on Labor and Welfare
15. Committee on Petroleum & Chemicals
16. Committee on Railways
17. Committee on Urban and Rural Development

Out of the 17 Committees, 6 Committees (1 to 6) are serviced by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat and 11 Committees (7 to 17) by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Each of these Standing Committees consists of not more than 45 members—30 to be nominated by the Speaker from amongst the members of Lok Sabha and 15 to be nominated by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha from amongst the members of Rajya Sabha.
A Minister is not eligible to be nominated to these Committees.
The term of members of these Committees is one year.
With reference to the Ministries/Departments under their purview, the functions of these committees are:

Consideration of Demands for Grants.
Examination of Bills referred to by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha as the case may be.
Consideration of Annual Reports.
Consideration of national basic long term policy documents presented to the House and referred to the Committee by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha, as the case may be.

These Committees do not consider matters of day-to-day administration of the concerned Ministries/Departments. The newly constituted departmentally related Standing Committee System is a path-breaking endeavor of the Parliamentary surveillance over administration. With the emphasis of their functioning to concentrate on long-term plans, policies and the philosophies guiding the working of the Executive, these Committees will be in a very privileged position to provide necessary direction, guidance and inputs for broad policy formulations and in achievement of the long-term national perspective by the Executive.

3. Committees to Inquire:

Committee on petitions:
- The Committee consists of 15 members in lok sabha and 10 members in Rajya sabha.
- A Minister is not nominated to this Committee.
- The function of the Committee is to consider and report on petitions presented to the House. Besides, it also considers representations from individuals and associations, etc. on subjects which are not covered by the rules relating to petitions and gives directions for their disposal.
Committee on privileges:
- The Committee consists of 15 members in lok sabha and 10 members in Rajya sabha.
- The function is to examine every question involving breach of privilege of the House or of the members of any Committee thereof referred to it by the House or by the Speaker.
- It determines with reference to the facts of each case whether a breach of privilege is involved and makes suitable recommendations in its report.
Ethics committee:
- It is engaged in maintaining discipline and decorum in parliament.
- It examines the cases of misconduct and recommends appropriate action.

4. Committees to scrutinize and control :

Committee on government assurances:
- The Committee consists of 15 members in lok sabha and 10 members in Rajya sabha.
- A Minister is not nominated to this Committee.
- While replying to questions in the House or during discussions on Bills, Resolutions, Motions etc., Ministers at times give assurances or undertakings either to consider a matter or to take action or to furnish the House further information later. The functions of this Committee are to scrutinize the assurances, promises, undertakings etc. given by Ministers from time to time and to report to Lok Sabha on the extent to which such assurances etc. have been implemented and to see whether such implementation has taken place within the minimum time necessary for the purpose.
Committee on subordinate legislation:
- in both the houses, the committee has 15 members.
- A Minister is not nominated to this Committee.
- The Committee scrutinizes and reports to the House whether the powers to make regulations, rules, and sub-rules, by-laws etc. conferred by the Constitution or delegated by Parliament are being properly exercised by the executive within the scope of such delegation.
Committee on papers laid on the table:
- The Committee consists of 15 members in lok sabha and 10 members in Rajya sabha.
- Its function is to examine all papers laid on the Table of the House by Ministers (other than those which fall within the purview of the Committee on Subordinate Legislation or any other Parliamentary Committee) and to report to the House—
  (a) whether there has been compliance of the provisions of the Constitution, Act, rule or regulation under which the paper has been laid,
  (b) whether there has been any unreasonable delay in laying the paper,
  (c) if there has been such delay, whether a statement explaining the reasons for delay has been laid on the Table of the House and whether those reasons are satisfactory,
  (d) whether both the Hindi and English versions of the paper have been laid on the Table,
  (e) whether a statement explaining the reasons for not laying the Hindi version has been given and whether such reasons are satisfactory,
  (f) such other functions in respect of the papers laid on the Table as may be assigned to it by the Speaker from time to time.
Committee on welfare of SCs and STs:
- consists of 30 members – 20 from lok sabha and 10 from Rajya sabha.
- Term :one year.
- A Minister is not eligible for election to this Committee.
- The main functions of the Committee are to consider all matters concerning the welfare of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, falling within the purview of the Union Government and the Union Territories, to consider the reports submitted by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and to examine the measures taken by the Union Government to secure due representation of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in services and posts under its control.
Committee on empowerment of women:
- consists of 30 members – 20 from lok sabha and 10 from Rajya sabha.
- This Committee came into being on 29th April, 1997, as a consequence of identical Resolutions adopted by both the Houses of Parliament on the occasion of International Women’s’ Day on 8th March, 1996.
- The term of the Committee is of one year.
- The Committee has been primarily mandated with the task of reviewing and monitoring the measures taken by the Union Government in the direction of securing for women equality, status and dignity in all matters.
- The Committee would also suggest necessary correctives for improving the status/condition of women in respect of matters within the purview of the Union Government.
- Besides, another important function of the Committee is to examine the measures taken by the Union Government for comprehensive education and adequate representation of women in Legislative bodies/services and other fields.
- The Committee would also consider the report of the National Commission for Women.
- The Committee may also examine such other matters as may seem fit to them or are specifically referred to them by the Lok Sabha or the Speaker and the Rajya Sabha or the Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
Joint committee on offices of profit:
- This Committee consists of 15 members. Ten members are elected from Lok Sabha and five from Rajya Sabha.
- The Committee is constituted for the duration of each Lok Sabha.
- The main functions of the Committee are to examine the composition and character of the Committees appointed by the Central and State Governments and to recommend what offices should disqualify and what offices should not disqualify a person for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament under article 102 of the Constitution.

5.Committees relating to the day to day business of the house:

Business advisory committee:
- The Business Advisory Committee of Lok Sabha consists of 15 members including the Speaker who is the ex-officio Chairman. In the Rajya Sabha, it has 11 members including the chairman as its ex – officio chairman.
- The members are nominated by the Speaker.
- Almost all sections of the House are represented on the Committee as per the respective strength of parties in the House.
- The function of the Committee is to recommend the time that should be allotted for the discussion of such Government legislative and other business as the Speaker, in consultation with the Leader of the House, may direct to be referred to the Committee.
- The Committee, on its own initiative, may also recommend to the Government to bring forward particular subjects for discussion in the House and recommend allocation of time for such discussions.
- The decisions reached by the Committee are always unanimous in character and representative of the collective view of the House.
- The Committee generally meets at the beginning of each Session and thereafter as and when necessary.
Committee on private members’ bills and resolutions:
- This Committee consists of 15 members and the Deputy Speaker is its Chairman when nominated as a member of the Committee.
- The Committee is nominated by the Speaker.
- The functions of the Committee are to allot time to Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions, to examine Private Members’ Bills seeking to amend the Constitution before their introduction in Lok Sabha, to examine all Private Members’ Bills after they are introduced and before they are taken up for consideration in the House and to classify them according to their nature, urgency and importance into two categories namely, category A and category B and also to examine such Private Members’ Bills where the legislative competence of the House is challenged.
- The Committee, thus, performs the same function in relation to Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions as the Business Advisory Committee does in regard to Government Business.
- The Committee holds office for a term not exceeding one year.
- There is no such committee in Rajya Sabha.
Rules committee:
- The Rules Committee consists of 15 members including the Speaker who is the ex-officio Chairman of the Committee in lok sabha. In Rajya Sabha it has 16 members including the chairman as its ex officio chairman.
- The members are nominated by the Speaker.
- The Committee considers matters of procedure and conduct of business in the House and recommends any amendments or additions to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha that are considered necessary.
Committee on absence members:
- The Committee consists of 15 members who hold office for one year.
- The members are nominated by the Speaker.
- This Committee considers all applications from members for leave of absence from the sittings of the House and examines every case where a member has been absent for a period of 60 days or more, without permission, from the sittings of the House.
- In its report it makes recommendations with respect to each case as to whether the absence should be condoned or leave applied granted or whether the circumstances of the case justify that the House should declare the seat of the member vacant.
- There is no such committee in Rajya Sabha.

6.Housekeeping committees:

General purpose committee: this committee advises on matters which do not fall under any of the above said committees. In each house, speaker or chairman acts as ex officio chairman of the committee and they nominate members from the respective houses.
House committee: this committee looks after hospitality and accommodation of members and hostels in Delhi.
Library committee: this committee makes members make the use of library services. It has 9 members – 6 from lok sabha and 3 from Rajya Sabha.
Joint committee on salaries and allowances: this committee looks after salaries, pensions etc. matters related to members. It has 15 members – 10 from lok sabha and 5 from Rajya sabha.

Ad hoc committees: There are two types of them: Inquiry and Advisory committees.

Inquiry committee: they are constituted from time to time, either by the two houses on a motion adopted in that behalf or by the speaker or chairman to inquire into and report on specific subjects.
Advisory committee: they include select or joint committees on bills which are appointed to consider and report on particular bills. The procedure to be followed by this committee is laid down in rules of procedure and directions of speaker. In this way they are from different from other ad hoc committees.

Cabinet Committees

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Emergence

They are set up by Prime Minister according to the exigencies of the time and requirements of the situation. Hence their number, nomenclature and composition vary from time to time.
They are of extra constitutional emergence and not mentioned in the Constitution. Rules of business provide for their establishment.

Membership

Membership varies. It usually includes only cabinet ministers and non – cabinet ministers are not debarred from their membership.
They not only include ministers in charge of subjects covered by them but also include other senior ministers.
They are mostly headed by Prime Minister. In case Prime Minister is a member of a committee, he invariably presides over it.

Type

There are two types of cabinet committees:
Standing – permanent in nature
Ad hoc – temporary in nature (constituted from time to time to deal with special problems and disbanded after their task is completed)

Purpose

They are constituted to reduce work load of the cabinet, in-depth examination of policy, effective coordination, and division of labor and effective delegation.
They not only sort out issues and formulate proposals but also take decisions. However the cabinet can review their decisions.

List of cabinet committees
There are eleven committees at present : They are - cabinet committees on political affairs, parliamentary affairs, economic affairs, issues relating to WTO, issues relating to UIDAI, security, accommodation, investment, appointments, skill development and issues relating to prices (Mnemonic - WTO, SIS, PA, EPPA& UIDAI).

Political affairs committee :deals with all policy matters pertaining to domestic and foreign affairs.
Appointments committee :decides all higher level appointments in the central secretariat, public enterprises, banks and financial institutions.
Among all eleven cabinet committees, except parliamentary and accommodation committees, all are chaired by Prime Minister.
Parliamentary affairs committee is chaired by Home Minister and Accommodation committee by Defense minister.
Political affairs committee is the most powerful and often described as a ‘super cabinet’.

Group of Ministers

Constituted to look in different issues, on certain emergent issues and critical problem areas.
Some Group of Ministers are empowered to take decisions – EGoMs. Others make recommendations to the cabinet.
They are an effective instrument of coordination among the ministers.
They are ad hoc in nature.
Ministers heading the concerned ministers are inducted into the relevant GoMs and when the advice is crystallized they are disbanded.

As of February, 2014 there are 21 functional GoMs. They are:

To evolve an integrated strategy for water management.
Consider reports on ARC
Civil aviation sector
Bhopal gas leak disaster
To examine various issues pertaining to the functioning of prasarbharati
On media
To consider and make recommendations with regard to Common Wealth Games 2010
To look into the issue of inclusion of erosion as an eligible calamity for relief under National disaster response fund and state disaster response fund.
To formulate policy for existing urea units beyond stage – III of National Price Scheme
Issues of resident identity cards to all usual residents of the country of age 18 years and above under the scheme of national population register
Prescribing uniform terms and conditions of service of chair persons and members of quasi-judicial tribunals/commissions/regulatory bodies etc
Reviving and revitalizing BSNL and MTNL
Issues relating to construction of carrier lined channel (CLC) from Munak to Haiderpur
Matters relating to Haj.
Bifurcation of state of Andhra Pradesh and formation of new state of Telangana.
Progress of sale of wheat in 2013 – 14 under open market sale scheme domestic (OMSS – D)
Revision of buffer norms of food grains in the central pool.
Setting up of Amristar – Kolkata Industial Corrdidor (AKIC) and formation of AKIC development corporation
National policy for domestic workers
Amend section 2(h) and insertion of 24A of AICTE Act, 1987 through a bill in parliament by the way of AICTE (Amendment) Act, 2013
Status cum progress report and constitution of special committee for inter linking of rivers.

Note: Above may be disbanded after completion of task as in 15 – Bifurcation of state of Andhra Pradesh and formation of new state of Telangana.

EGoMs:
As of February 2014 there are eight functional EGoMs. They are:

To decide the price band and final price of sale of shares held by government of India in all central public sector enterprises.
Gas pricing and commercial utilization of gas.
Ultra mega power projects
Mass rapid transit system (MRTS)
Vacation of spectrum auction of 3G spectrum and to look into the grant of license and allocation of spectrum in 2G band in 22 service areas.
On drought
Issues relating to development of north eastern region
Taking up strategic and electricity generation projects in Arunachal Pradesh.

Working of GoMs / problems associated:
The 2nd ARC says the following:

Constitution of a large number of GoMs has resulted in many GoMs not being able to meet regularly to complete their work thus leading to significant delays on many major issues.
More selective use of the institution of GoMs would perhaps led to more effective coordination particularly if they are empowered to arrive at a decision on behalf of the cabinet with time limits that are prescribed for completing the work entrusted to them.
There is a need to ensure that existing coordination mechanism of GoMs function effectively and helps in early resolution of issues. Selective but effective use of GoMs with clear mandate prescribed time limits would be helpful.

Supreme Court : Constitutional Provisions

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Introduction

India has an independent & integrated judicial system.
It is called independent because there is not control on Indian courts by the executive and legislative organs of the government.
It is called integrated because Indian judiciary is not just one court. It comprises of a hierarchy of courts. (i.e. Supreme Court at the top, followed by High Court & then subordinate court in the form of district courts.)
The idea for a single system of court came from the Government of India Act, 1935. In India, both the central and state laws are exercised by the single system of government. There are no separate courts for state laws & separate courts for central laws.

Some Facts about Supreme Court

Supreme Court was inaugurated on 28th January, 1950.
It succeeded the Federal Court of India, established under the Government of India Act of 1935.
Supreme Court’s organization, independence, jurisdiction, powers, procedures, etc., are all given in the Article 124 to Article 147 in Part V of the constitution.

Composition of Supreme Court

Supreme Court consists of 31 judges.
In short, there should be one chief justice & thirty other judges in the Supreme Court.

Qualification of Judges

He must be a citizen of India
A) He must have been a judge of High Court for 5 years or B) He should have been an advocate of a High Court for ten years or C) He should be a distinguished jurist in the opinion of the President.

Tenure of Judges

He holds the office till the age of 65 years.
He can resign from the office by writing to the President.
He can be removed from his office by the President on the recommendation of the Parliament.

Removal of Judges
President is the one who can remove the Judge of the Supreme Court but for it needs approval of the Parliament. The detailed process is given below:

For starting the motion for removal of Judge of the Supreme Court, it can be started in any one of the House of Parliament. But for Lok Sabha atleast 100 members or for Rajya Sabha atleast 50 members has to ask to start such a motion by submitting application to Speaker/Chairman (as the case may be).
Speaker/Chairman may accept or reject it
After this, the speaker or chairman creates a 3 member committee to investigate the charges. (Note: The 3 member committee consists of the i)Chief Justice of India or judge of Supreme Court ii) A chief justice of High Court & iii) Distinguished Jurist
If the committee finds the judge to be guilty of misbehaviour or suffering from incapacity, the House can take up the consideration of the motion.
After the motion is passed by each House of Parliament by special majority, an address is presented to the president to the president for the removal of judge.
At last, The President passes an order removing the judge.

What are the provisions that make independence of Supreme Court possible?

Separate from executive: Constitution has guaranteed to keep a distinction between the Judiciary & the Executive in matters of public services.
Freedom to appoint its staff: Supreme Court has the right to appoint its own staff.
Ban on practice after retirement: Any judge of the Supreme Court is not allowed to practice in any court of law in India.
Expenditure on Judges of Supreme Court: The expenditure on Judges i.e. salaries, allowances & pensions are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India on which the executive has little control.
Security of Tenure: Any judge of the Supreme Court can’t be removed by any arbitrary manner. He can only be removed by the way in which the constitution has decided.
Way of Appointment: Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President on the recommendation of members of the judiciary itself.
Fixed service allocation: Any condition of work cannot be changed after the appointment of judges which goes against the interest of the Judge.
Conduct of judges: The conduct of judges can’t be discussed by the Parliament or state legislature with respect to the conduct of judges.
Power to Punish for its contempt: Supreme Court can punish any person for its contempt.
Jurisdiction: Jurisdiction of Supreme Court can’t be decreased.

Jurisdiction and powers of Supreme Court

Supreme Court of India has more powers than any other Supreme Court in any part of the world.
It not only it is a federal court, but is also the final court of appeal & the guarantor of the fundamental rights of the citizens. Along with this they have advisory & supervisory powers along with the power of Judicial Review.
Jurisdiction & powers of Supreme Court can be classified into following types:
Original Jurisdiction
Writ Jurisdiction
Appellate Jurisdiction
Advisory Jurisdiction
A Court of Record
Power of Judicial Review
Other Powers
Original Jurisdiction
Original Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court refers to the Federal Character of the Indian Constitution.
Any matter or dispute concerned with the Indian Federalism is resolved or decided by Supreme Court.
It is called Original Jurisdiction because “originally” i.e. at the start Supreme Court was created for resolving the disputes between the i) Centre & state or ii) state & state or iii) Centre, State & state or states.
This original jurisdiction is exclusive in nature i.e. this power is vested only in the Supreme Court & not any other court in India.
Writ Jurisdiction
Writ is nothing but a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer
Writ are issued by the Supreme Court & High court for enforcement of fundamental rights.
Various types of writs are: habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo-warrento & certiorari.
Supreme Court can issue writs only in the case of violation of Fundamental Right & not any other law. While High Court can issue writs even in the case of other laws. This extra power of High Court can also be added by the Supreme Court by the Parliament.
Appellate Jurisdiction:
Appellate Jurisdiction is the method by which any person by use of it can appeal to the higher court of law if he is not satisfied with the decision of the lower court.
But the decision given by Supreme Court is final in this case & it cannot be challenged anywhere.
Advisory Jurisdiction:
This denotes the advisory role played by the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court is the supreme interpreter of the constitution. Hence any advice given by it in terms of law is always correct.
President therefore has been given the power under Article 143 to take advice from the Supreme Court on any legal matter.
A Court of Record: The judgements, proceedings and acts of the Supreme Court are recorded for perpetual memory and testimony.
Power of Judicial Review:
Judicial Review is the power by which Supreme Court determines the constitutional validity of any law made by the Central or State Government.
Supreme Court has the right to declare any law null & void if that violative of the Constitution.
Other Powers:
It has the power of judicial superintendence and control over all the courts and tribunals functioning in the entire territory of the country.
It is the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution.
Its law is binding on all court in India.
It is authorized to withdraw the cases pending before the High Courts and dispose them by itself.
It has power to review its own judgement or order.
It enquires into the conduct and behaviour of the chairman and members of the Union Public Service Commission on a reference made by the President.
It decides the disputes regarding the election of the President and the Vice-President.

Difference between Indian and American Supreme Court

Sr. No.	Indian Supreme Court	American Supreme Court
1	Jurisdiction and powers can be increased by Parliament.	Jurisdiction and powers are limited to that conferred by the Constitution
2	Scope of judicial review is limited.	Scope of judicial review is very wide.
3	It has a very wide discretion to grant special leave to appeal in any matter against the judgement of any court or tribunal (except military)	It has no such plenary power.
4	Its original jurisdiction is confined to federal cases.	Its original jurisdiction covers not only federal cases but also cases relating to naval forces, maritime activities, ambassadors, etc.
5	It has power of judicial superintendence and control over state high courts due to integrated judicial system.	It has no such power due to double judicial system.
6	It defends rights of the citizen according to the “procedure established by law”	It defends rights of the citizens according to the “due process of law”.
7	It has advisory jurisdiction.	It has no advisory jurisdiction.
8	Its appellate jurisdiction covers constitutional, civil and criminal cases.	Its appellate jurisdiction is confined to constitutional cases only.

Emergency Provisions in the Constitution

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Part of the constitution in which it is incorporated	Part XVIII
Range of the articles which constitute emergency provisions	From Article 352 to Article 360.

Reasons for incorporating emergency provisions

To meet any exceptional or threat full situation
To protect the sovereignty, unity, integrity and security of the country.
It has been incorporated to change the Indian political system from federal to unitary as per the situation & requirements of the country.

General effects of proclamation of emergencies in India

Indian Federal character (i.e. distribution of powers between centre and state) gets affected.
Federal character of India turns into unitary one i.e. the centre becomes all powerful & supreme than the state.

Types of Emergency

Sr. No.	Article No.	Emergency Commonly called as
1	352	National Emergency
2	356	State Emergency / President’s Rule / Constitutional Emergency
3	360	Financial Emergency

NATIONAL EMERGENCY
Some Facts about National Emergency

Sr. No.	Question	Answer
1	Declared under Article	352
2	Who declares it	President
3	Ground for declaration	Security of India or a part of it is threatened by war/external aggression or armed rebellion.
4	Can President issue more than one proclamation for National Emergency ?	Yes. He can issue different proclamations at the same time i.e. if he has issued proclamation for Maharashtra State of national emergency on the ground of armed rebellion in Maharashtra, He can at the same time also issue proclamation of national emergency on the ground of external aggression in Gujrat. In short, he can issue different proclamation of National emergency for different part of the country at the same time. (this provision was added by the 38th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1975.
5	Are there any subtypes in the National Emergency ?	It is called External Emergency: If the ground of declaration is due to war or external aggression. It is called Internal Emergency: If the ground of declaration is due to armed rebellion.
6	Is National Emergency applicable to whole India	No. It can also be limited to any part of India. (This provision was added by 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976).
7	Difference between Internal disturbance and armed rebellion	Before 42nd Amendment Act, it was possible to use national emergency on the grounds of internal disturbance. But not those words have been changed to armed rebellion. In short, today we can proclaim national emergency only on the ground of armed rebellion & not because of the internal disturbance.
8	Is there any condition binding on President for proclaiming the national emergency?	Yes. President can only proclaim national emergency on the written recommendation of the Cabinet i.e. the permission of only the Prime Minister is not sufficient for proclaiming emergency.
9	Is judicial review available ? If Yes then on what grounds ?	Judicial review is available. It can be asked for only on the grounds that the decision was malafide or the decision for proclamation seemed irrelevant & had no supporting evidence.

National Emergency Approval & Duration

Sr. No.	Question	Answer
1	Is approval needed for proclamation	Yes. Both the houses of Parliament must pass such a resolution within one month from the date its issue.
2	What if Lok Sabha is dissolved at the time of proclamation need ? (Note: Rajya Sabha is a Permanent house of the Parliament & hence question of it being dissolved never comes)	National emergency is proclaimed in such a case. But Rajya Sabha needs to approve it first. Then whenever Lok Sabha constitutes, it has to pass the resolution for the same within 30 days from its first meeting.
3	For How much time does national emergency remains in force?	6 months
4	Is extension possible for national emergency	Yes. It can be extended to a indefinite period (infinite) but it requires Parliamentary approval every 6 months.
5	What kind of majority is needed to pass a resolution of National Emergency?	It requires special majority. (Note: Special majority means a majority of the total membership of that house & a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that house present and voting.
6	Then how to end national emergency ?	President has to again pass a resolution for ending national emergency.
7	Is permission required to be taken by the President from both the houses of Parliament to end national emergency ?	No.
8	Can Lok Sabha end National Emergency?	Yes. It can pass a resolution to that effect & ask President to end the National Emergency. (Note: Such a sitting could be arranged in the Lok Sabha if 1/10th of the Members of the house give a written notice to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha) (Note:Rajya Sabha has no power in this case)
9	Difference between continuation & cancelling of running national emergency ?	For continuation, resolution has to be passed by special majority. For cancelling running national emergency, simple majority is required. For continuation, permission of both the houses of Parliament is required. For cancelling running national emergency, permission of only Lok Sabha is required.

Effects of National Emergency

Sr. No.	Effects	Description
1	Effect on Federal Character	Political structure converts from federal to unitary. State governments come directly under the control of central government but the state governments are not suspended in this case. Parliament can now make legislations even on subjects mentioned in the state list. States can also make laws on state subject but the central law will prevail in this case. (Note: Any law made during National Emergency ceases to operate after 6 months from the expiry of National Emergency.) (Note: President can issue ordinances on state subject is the Parliament is not in session). Parliament can increase the power & impose duties on the Centre for carrying out any the matters outside the Union List President can either reduce or increase the flow of funds to a particular state. But such a resolution before it’s effect has to be tabled before the both the houses of Parliament.
2	Effects on Lok Sabha & State Legislative Assemblies	During its operation, life of Lok Sabha can be extended to one year at a time for indefinite period. But this extension cannot continue beyond six months after the expiry of emergency Similarly Parliament can extend the life of state legislative assembly to one year at a time for indefinite period. But this extension cannot continue beyond six months after the expiry of emergency
3	Effects on Fundamental Rights	Fundamental rights present under Article 19 of the constitution cease to operate. Parliament/state can make laws which are against Article 19. No remedy is available against any executive action taken during this period. Conditions: i) Fundamental rights under Article 19 cease to operate only when the National Emergency is declared on the ground of war or external aggression & not on the ground of armed rebellion. II) Only those laws can be challenged which are not related to emergency. Iii) Executive action taken under only the laws related to emergency is protected. President can suspend the right to move to ay court for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. Fundamental Rights under Article 20 & 21 remains effective even under National Emergency i.e. they can’t be taken away. (Note: Article 20 – right to protection in respect of conviction for offences. Article 21 –right to life and personal liberty)

Difference between Article 358 &359

Sr. No.	Article 358	Article 359
1	It is limited to provisions for national emergency for Article 19 only.	It extends to provisions for national emergency for all the fundamental rights whose enforcement is suspended by Presidential Order.
2	It automatically suspends the fundamental rights under Article 19 once national emergency is declared.	Fundamental rights are not automatically suspended. It just gives the power to President to suspend the enforcement of certain or all fundamental rights as he dims fit.
3	It operates in case of external national emergency only & not in the case of internal national emergency	It operates in case of both the external & internal national emergency.
4	Fundamental rights of Article 19 are suspended for the entire duration of Emergency.	Fundamental rights are suspended only for that period which is decided by the President
5	It extends to whole India.	It can be made to cover whole India or a part of it.
6	Article 358 suspends Article 19 completely.	Article 359 can’t suspend Articles 20 & 21.

National Emergencies declared so far

Sr. No.	Parameter	Description
1	How many times it has been declared	3 times
2	Years of declaration	1962, 1971 and 1975
3	Reasons for 1962	Chinese Aggression
4	Reasons for 1971	Attack by Pakistan
5	Reasons for 1975	Internal Disturbance (Note: Now national emergency can’t be declared on the ground of internal disturbance)

PRESIDENT’S RULE
Some Facts about President’s Rule

Sr. No.	Question	Answer
1	Article used	356
2	Declared by	President
3	On Which ground	If President is of the opinion that government of a particular state can’t function according to constitution i.e. there is constitutional machinery breakdown in the state. (Note: It can be done on the basis of Governor’s report or even without it)
4	Is Judicial Review available on such declaration?	Yes. Judicial review is available in such a case.

President’s Rule Approval & Duration

Sr. No.	Question	Answer
1	Is approval needed for proclamation	Yes. Both the houses of Parliament must pass such a resolution within two month from the date its issue.
2	What if Lok Sabha is dissolved at the time of proclamation need ? (Note: Rajya Sabha is a Permanent house of the Parliament & hence question of it being dissolved never comes)	President’s rule is proclaimed in such a case. But Rajya Sabha needs to approve it first. Then whenever Lok Sabha constitutes, it has to pass the resolution for the same within 30 days from its first meeting.
3	For How much time does President’s rule remains in force?	6 months
4	Is extension possible for President’s rule	Yes. It can be extended to a maximum period of 3 years but it requires Parliamentary approval every 6 months.
5	What kind of majority is needed to pass a resolution of National Emergency?	It requires simple majority. (Note: Simple majority means that the majority number of members (i.e. more than 50%) present in the house should vote in favour of resolution for proclamation of financial emergency.)

Effects of President’s Rule

President’s takes over all the power vested in the state government.
He can even give the state powers to Parliament to exercise according to their discretion.
State government of the state under President’s rule is suspended. Also, President either suspends or dissolves the state legislative assembly.
President does not assume the powers of the High Court of that particular state.
A law made by the Parliament or President or any other specified authority continues to be operative even after the President’s rule. This means that the period for which such a law remains in force is not co-terminus with the duration of the proclamation. But it can be repealed or alerted or re-enacted by the state legislature.

Difference between National Emergency & President’s Rule

Sr. No.	National Emergency	President’s Rule
1	Declared under Article 352.	Declared under Article 356.
2	During its operation, state executive & state legislature continue to function.	During its operation, state executive is dismissed & state legislature can be either suspended or dissolved.
3	No maximum period for its operation. It just needs to be approved every six months.	Maximum period for its operation is three years.
4	Under this, the relation of centre with all the states undergoes modification.	Under this, the relation of centre & only the state in which President’s rule has been proclaimed undergoes modification.
5	Every resolution for its proclamation or continuance must be passed by Parliament with Special Majority.	Every resolution for its proclamation or continuance must be passed by Parliament with Simple Majority.
6	It affects Fundamental rights of the citizens.	It does not affect Fundamental Rights of the citizens.
7	Lok Sabha can pass a resolution for its revocation.	There is no such provision. It can be revoked by the President only on his own.
8	Parliament can make laws on the subjects enumerated in the State List only by itself that is, it cannot delegate the same to any other body or authority.	Parliament can delegate the power to make laws for the state to the President or any other authority specified by him.

FINANCIAL EMERGENCY
Some facts about financial emergency

Sr. No.	Question	Answer
1	Declared under article?	360
2	Declared By?	President
3	On which ground?	If President thinks that there has arisen certain circumstances by which financial stability of India or a part of it is threatened
4	Is Judicial Review available on such declaration?	Yes. Judicial review is available in such a case.
5	Has it been declared so far?	No. It has not been declared so far.

Financial Emergency Approval & Duration

Sr. No.	Question	Answer
1	Is approval needed for proclamation of financial emergency ?	Yes. Both the houses of Parliament must pass a resolution for the same before it can be proclaimed within two months from the date of issue.
2	What kind of majority is needed to pass such a proclamation in both the houses of Parliament ?	Simple Majority (Note: Simple majority means that the majority number of members (i.e. more than 50%) present in the house should vote in favour of resolution for proclamation of financial emergency. )
3	What if Lok Sabha is dissolved at the time of proclamation need ? (Note: Rajya Sabha is a Permanent house of the Parliament & hence question of it being dissolved never comes)	Financial emergency is proclaimed in such a case. But Rajya Sabha needs to approve it first. Then whenever Lok Sabha constitutes, it has to pass the resolution for the same within 30 days from its first meeting.
4	Duration of Financial Emergency	Once approved, it remains in effect indefinitely i.e. there is no limit to the duration of financial emergency.
5	Then how to end financial emergency ?	President has to again pass a resolution for ending financial emergency.
6	Is permission required to be taken by the President from both the houses of Parliament to end financial emergency ?	No.

Effects of Financial Emergency

Centre directs state government to observe cuts in the financial matter as the centre thinks fit.
President can also suggest centre areas where financial cuts can be made to save money.
Provisions for the state: A) Centre can reduce the salaries of any of the class serving in the state. B) President can ask the governor to reserve all the money/financial bill passed by a state legislature for his assent.
Provisions for the centre: A) President can reduce the salaries of any class serving the centre. B) President can reduce the salaries even of the judges of the High Court & Supreme Court.

Criticism of Financial Emergency:

It reduces the financial autonomy of the state.
It gives undue financial power to centre once it is proclaimed.

Ambedkar’s View of Financial Emergency

Ambedkar thought that the provision for financial emergency is very important.
It has been added in the constitution for tackling any grave economic or financial power that comes before India because for such a threat centralized financial power is the need which is provided by this provision.

Criticism of the Emergency Provisions:

Emergency provisions in the constitution are strongly criticized on the ground that once they are opted for, federal character of the constitution cease to exist & the centre becomes most powerful.
Powers of the state are severely curtailed.
Even the fundamental provisions are taken away in the emergencies. Then what is the use of the freedom we have got.
It is possible that a central dictatorship may arise paving way to totalitarian state.
Emergency provision makes centre powerful & equip it with tools that can be used against any A) Government Body/State and B)person.

In Favour of Emergency Provisions:

Experts have considered emergency provisions as the “life-breath” of the constitution.
It is the most effective measure against any dangerous threat that comes in front of India.
It acts as a safety valve & actually helps in the maintenance of the constitution.