Constitution of India

                       Constitution of India and borrowings

The present constitution of India was framed by the Constitution Assembly of India setup under Cabinet Mission Plan of May 16, 1946.

Composition of Constituent Assembly:-

• The Constituent Assembly consisted of 385 members, of which 292 were elected by he elected members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies while 93 members were nominated by the Princely States. To these were to be added a representative each from the four Chief Commissioners Provinces of Delhi, Ajmer-Marwar, Coorg and British Baluchistan.
• Each Province and each Indian State or group of States were allotted the total number of seas proportional to their respective population roughly in the ration of one to a million.
• B N Rao was appointed the Constitutional Advisor of the Assembly.
• The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly took place of Dec 9, 1946 with Dr. Sachidanand Sinha as its interim President. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as its President n Dec 11, 1947.
• The Assembly framing the Constitution.had 13 Committees.
• The all-important Drafting Committee, which bore the responsibility of drafting the Constitutional document during the recess of the Constitutent Assembly, from July 1947 to September 1948, was formed on August 29, 1947. Its members were:

1.    Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

2.    N. Gopalaswami Ayyar

3.    K.M. Munshi

4.    Syyed Mohd. Saadulla

5.    N.Madhav Rao

6.    D.P.Khaitan (T Krishnamachari, after Kahitan’s Death in 1948)

• It was finally passed and accepted on Nov 26, 1949. The session of the Assembly was held on Jan 24, 1950, which unanimously elected Dr, Rajendra Prasad as the President of India. In all the 284 members of the Assembly signed the official copies of the Indian Constitution which came into effect on Jan 26, 1950, known and celebrated as the Republic Day of India.

Following are the borrowed features of constitution from different countries

From U.K.

• Nominal Head – President (like Queen)
• Cabinet System of Ministers
• Post of PM
• Parliamentary Type of Govt.
• Bicameral Parliament
• Lower House more powerful
• Council of Ministers responsible to Lowe House
• Speaker in Lok Sabha

From U.S.

• Written Constitution
• Executive head of state known as President and his being the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces
• Vice- President as the ex-officio Chairman of Rajya Sabha
• Fundamental Rights
• Supreme Court
• Provision of States
• Independence of Judiciary and judicial review
• Preamble
• Removal of Supreme court and High court Judges

From USSR

• Fundamental Duties
• Five year Plan

From AUSTRALIA

• Concurrent list
• Language of the preamble
• Provision regarding trade, commerce and intercourse

From JAPAN

• Law on which the Supreme Court function

From WEIMAR CONSTITUION OF GERMANY

• Suspension of Fundamental Rights during the emergency

From CANADA

• Scheme of federation with a strong centre
• Distribution of powers between centre and the states and placing. Residuary Powers with the centre

From IRELAND

• Concept of Directive Principles of States Policy(Ireland borrowed it from SPAIN)
• Method of election of President
• Nomination of members in the Rajya Sabha by the President

Current Affairs December 2013

Current Affairs December 2013

 

                           : National :

                    

•Indonesian Government announced to build new sanctuary to save World’s rarest Javan Rhinos

•China banned officials from smoking in public places

•Microsoft India launched a new safety application, Guardian

•India and United States signed a contract for six additional C-130J super Hercules aircraft

•The Himachal Pradesh High Court banned plastic packing of junk food on 26 December 2013

•The Union Government launched e-inclusion project to spread e-literate

•National Consumers Right Day was observed across India on 24 December

•RBI launched Inflation indexed Saving Bonds

•Kimberlite rocks containing diamonds discovered at Mount Meredith in East Antarctica

•India Win Asia-Pacific Junior Golf Championship.

•Kolkata ranked top in public transport among Indian cities: UTIP Study

•Canara Bank get license from the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System to open a branch in New York.

•Minorities Rights Day was observed across the country on 18 December

•International Migrants Day observed across the world on 18 December 2013

•South India’s first high altitude cricket stadium was inaugurated at Krishnagiri in Waynad district of Kerala.

•India and Arab League inked an MoU to elevate the political, trade and cultural relations.

•Vijay Diwas was observed on 16 December

•103-year old Park Mansion of Kolkata awarded KMC-INTACH Heritage Award for 2013

•First India-Japan maritime exercise in Bay of Bengal

•International Olympics Committee cleared Indian athletes to take part in 2014 Winter Olympics

•Antarctica Hits coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth: -94.7C

•Doha Bank gets licence to commence banking operations in India

•Uruguay became the First nation to Legalize Marijuana Trade

•Panruti S. Ramachandran retires from active politics

•Human Rights Day was observed across the world on 10 December

•International Anti-Corruption Day is observed across the world on 9 December

•The 8th Asia Gas Partnership Summit (AGPS) was held at New Delhi

•BJP won Assembly Elections 2013 in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

•The 9th WTO Ministerial Conference was concluded at Bali, Indonesia

•Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dedicated GAIL India Ltd’s 1000 km Dabhol-Bangalore natural gas pipeline to the Nation

•The Union Government rejected the demand for introduction of Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in Meghalaya

•International Day of People with Disability was observed on 3 December

•India Ranked 94th on Global Corruption Perception Index 2013

•The International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development was observed across the world on 5 December

•President of India Pranab Mukharjee inaugurated the Nagaland’s traditional Hornbill Festival

                        Personalities 

•Anurag Bhushan took the charge as the Dubai Consul General of India

•Sashi Tharoor, the Union Minister of India was named PETA’s Person of the Year for taking steps to advance animal protection

•Chandra Kant Birla resigned from the Directorial post of Hindustan Motors Limited

•Serena Williams and LeBron James won the AP’s Athlete of the Year award

•Devendra Kumar Pathak has been appointed as the Special DG, Border Security Force (BSF)

•Atul Sarpotdar leader of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena passes away

•Farooq Sheikh, the Bollywood Veteran actor dies, aged 65

•Tyler Armstrong ,9 year-old US boy became the youngest person to reach the summit of Aconcagua.

•Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party sworn-in as Chief Minister of Delhi on 28 December 2013

•Pradeep Kumar has been appointed as the Managing Director (Corporate Banking) of SBI

•J.N.Chaudhary appointed as New Head of National Security Guard (NSG).

•Arvind Ranjan appointed new chief of Central Industrial Security Force

•Deepika Kumari won 34th National Archery Championship

•Ashok Lavasa appointed the New Civil Aviation Secretary

•Vinod Kumar Duggal, the former Home Secretary appointed as the Governor of Manipur

•Sidharth Birla, Chairman of Xpro India Limited took charge as the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

•Renowned Kannada poet G. S. Shivarudrappa, Died at 87 years

•Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of AK47 weapon died at 94 years

•M. Veerappa Moily appointed as new Environment and Forest Minister

•South Africa’s legendary all-rounder Jacques Kallis will retire from test and first class cricket after the second test against India in Durban.

•Former Rajasthan Agriculture minister Harjiram Burdak died at the age of 84

•Ronnie Biggs, the member of the Great Train Robbery gang in Britain died at the age of 84.

•Puneet Kumar has been appointed as the Secretary General of Apparel Export Promotion Council (APEC)

•Bipan Chandra was awarded Itihas Ratna

•Angela Merkel was elected as the German chancellor for third term

•Lawrence of Arabia star Peter O’Toole died at 81 years

•Mahesh Mangaonkar becomes first Indian to win IMET Squash Open 2013

•Michelle Bachelet won Chile Presidential Elections

•Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma Passes away at 91

•On 15 December 2013 Harsh Kumar Bhanwala appointed as the Chairman of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).

•Ethiopian Runner Atsedu Tsegay won the Men’s Delhi Half Marathon 2013

•The Union Labour and Employment Minister Sis Ram Ola Passes away

•Irrfan Khan won the best actor award for his film The Lunchbox at the 10th edition of Dubai International Film Festival

•Babul Phukan, the former footballer of India Passes away

•Shivraj Singh Chouhan sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh

•Malaika and Prakash won Gold Medals at the 57th National Shooting Championship

•Krishna Iyer was appointed President and CEO of Wal-Mart India

•Cheteshwar Pujara wins ICC Emerging Cricketer of the Year award

•Shah Rukh Khan tops Forbes India celebrity list for the second time

•Olympic medal-winning boxer M C Kom’s Autobiography, titled Unbreakable unveiled

•Sergio Perez joined Sahara Force India with multi-year deal for 2014 F1 season

•BJP leader Raman Singh was sworn in as Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh

•Waqar Younis was inducted into the ICC Cricket’s Hall of Fame

•Pope Francis named as Time’s Person of the Year

•Retired Justice DP Buch sworn in as Gujarat Lokayukta

•The Last King of Mysore Royal Family Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar passes away

•Wipro Chairman Azim Premji conferred with ET Lifetime Achievement Award 2013

•Shivakumar appointed as the Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo India

•Ranjan Mathai the former Foreign Secretary of India took over as the India’s High Commissioner to the UK

•‘The Sound of Music’ actress Eleanor Parker Dies at 91

•Sushma Singh appointed as the next Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of India

•Miss Venezuela, Alyz Henrich became Miss Earth 2013

•Sheila Dikshit resigns as Delhi Chief Minister

•Ahmet Uzumcu was re-appointed as the OPCW Director-General

•Anti-apartheid icon and Former South Africa President Nelson Mandela died at 95

•Former Madhya Pradesh Minister and Senior Congress leader Nathuram Ahirwar Passes away

•Malala Yousafzai awarded 2013 United Nations Human Rights Prize

•India-born author Manil Suri wins literary award in Britain

•Mahendra Singh Dhoni won ICC People’s Choice Award 2013

•Gaganjeet Bhullar won Indonesia Open Golf Tournament 2013

                           Astronomy

•Agni-III missile was successfully test-fired from the Wheeler Island of Odisha Coast

•Europe launched Gaia satellite from French Guiana

•India has successfully test-fired the Pinaka rockets from a multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL) at Chandipur

•China’s first lunar rover named Jade Rabbit landed on Moon

•ISRO successfully performed first Trajectory Correction Manoeuvre of Mangalyaan

•India successfully test fired Nuclear Capable Prithvi -2 Missile

                                      Sports 

•Germany lifted the Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup 2013

•India retained the Kabaddi World Cup for fourth consecutive time

•India won the women’s Kabaddi World Cup 2013

•South Africa clinched the series 2-0 against India

•India bag silver, bronze medals in Indoor Archery World Cup

•India was chosen to host Under-17 FIFA World Cup in 2017

•India retained Top-spot in ICC ODI Rankings      

Current Affairs November 2013

: Current Affairs November 2013 :

:National :

• The 9th International Heavy Minerals Conference (HMC 2013) was held at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh

• Music Album launched to commemorate 150th birth celebrations of Swami Vivekananda

• Google launched election portal in India

• Dubai Chosen to host the World EXPO 2020

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO] launched a cyber Defence Exercise “Cyber Coalition 2013” at Estonia.

• Latvian Prime Minister resigns over the supermarket roof collapse

• On 26 November 2013 Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif launched the construction of the country’s biggest Nuclear power project

• National Aluminium Company Limited [NACLO] Received the EEPC Export Award for 2011-2012

• On 26 November 2013 Reserve Bank of India include Medium Manufacturing Enterprises under priority sector

• Preneet Kaur, the Minister of State for External Affairs of India visited to Serbia

• India and Malaysia signed a MoU to strengthen co-operation in public administration and governance

• ‘Selfie’ was named as the Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the year for 2013

• Constitution Day was observed across India on 26 November

• Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General announced the Geneva-II Syria peace conference set for 22 January 2014

• World’s First Green Helicopter Tested in Germany

• International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women is observed across world on 25 November 2013

• The Vice President of India Hamid Ansari released a book entitled Maimaar-E-Qaun-Dr. A. R. Kidwai

• RBI directed Public Sector Banks (PSBs) to provide loans to women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) at 7 per cent

• India and Vietnam signed eight agreements

• Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) signed a MoU with Dalian Commodity Exchange (DCE) of China to boost the strategic co-operation

• The 3rd BRICS International Competition Conference inaugurated by Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh on 21 November 2013

• Kauwboy won the Golden Elephant Award for best film in the 18th International Children’s Film Festival India (ICFFI)

• The 44th Edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) began at Panaji, Goa on 20 November 2013

• India’s first all-women bank, Bharatiya Mahila Bank inaugurated by PM Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi on 19 November 2013

• President Pranab Mukherjee presented Indira Gandhi National Service Scheme Best University Award 2012-13 to Mangalore University on 19 November 2013

• Malta Chosen as Host of Next Commonwealth Summit in 2015

• Vice President of India M. Hamid Ansari inaugurated the Fourth Biennial Conference of Asian Society of International Law

• Krishna Tirath, the union Minister for Women and Child Development gave away the National Child Awards on Children’s Day

• World Diabetes Day was observed across the world on 14 November 2013

• ‘Pink Star’ Diamond sold for world record $83 million in Geneva

• Children’s Day was celebrated across India on 14 November 2013

• Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram inaugurated the IT based Risk Management System [RMS] for Trade Facilitation in Export Sector

• On 13 November 2013 Prasar Bharati signed MoU with Radio-Television of Slovenia for Co-operation in Broadcasting

• The Public Service Broadcasting Day was observed in India on 12 November 2013

• On 11 November 2013 Union Minister of Minority Affairs K Rahman Khan launched a National Portal on Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

• World Pneumonia Day observed on 12 November

• P.Chidambaram Released Commemorative coins of    Rs.20 on Birth Anniversary of Abdul Kalam Azad

• Vice President M. Hamid Ansari Released a Book Entitled ‘Momentous Times’

• The Indian Navy commissioned the First Advanced Light Weight Helicopters Squadron at Kochi

• India, Kuwait signed five pacts to strengthen bilateral cooperation in Culture and Education

• India and Japan Decided to further strengthen their cooperation in the Maritime sector

• The National Education Day of India was celebrated across the country on 11 November 2013

• The 7th India-Republic of Korea Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) was held in New Delhi

• The Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment Kumari Selja inaugurated the National Conference on Intellectual Disability on 7 Novemder 2013

• Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari released a book entitled India’s Nuclear Energy Programme

• Indian Navy inducts The Fourth Generation Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft Hawk 132

• BCCI Launched ‘Thank you Sachin’ campaign on social networking site Twitter on 6 November 2013

• The Union Minister of Minority Affairs Shri K.Rahman Khan, inaugurated the National Conference on the Wakf (Amendment) Act, 2013 in New Delhi

• The 12th edition of Pravasi Bhartiya Divas 2014 to be held in New Delhi

• Bharti Airtel signed an agreement with the Warid Group’s Congo business

• The Ministry of External Affairs Launched the mPassport Seva mobile app for iOS and Windows Phone .

• Bangladesh Becomes First country in South Asia to approved the commercial cultivation of Bt Brinjal,

• The Government Decided to extend the sale of 5 kg LPG cylinders at petrol pumps across India

• IRCON won Two Awards at Dun & Bradstreet Infra Awards 2013

• Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh Declared Kannur in Kerala as the First zero-Landless district in the country

• China opened a new Highway that links Medog to Zhamog-located near the border with Arunachal Pradesh

• India won Gold in 18th Asian Archery Competition at Chinese Taipei

• Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi laid the Foundation stone of the Statute of Unity

• Six major central banks make currency swap accords permanent.

• Vice-president of India, Hamid Ansari meets revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, wraps up Cuba visit.

                              : Personalities :

• Indian Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar appointed as UNICEF’s first brand ambassador for South Asia

• Noted Dalit Writer Omprakash Valmiki Passed away

• Nobel Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi receives honorary doctorate in Canberra

• Shoma Chaudhury, managing editor of Tehelka announced her resignation from the Tehelka magazine

• Neeraj Sahai, appointed as president of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services

• Lieutenant General Raheel Sharif appointed as the New Army Chief of Pakistan

• Priti Patel an Indian Origin British MP has been honoured with the prestigious Asian Trader Editor’s Award

• World champion water-skier Sarah Teelow died

• Deepak Lathore won Gold and two Silver medals in the Boys’ 50 Kg category of the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships

• Magnus Carlsen of Norway won the FIDE World Chess Championship 2013

• Nisha Desai Biswal was sworn in as the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.

• Kushal Das reappointed as All India Football Federation [AIFF] General Secretary for a second term of another three years

• Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar was sworn in as the 22nd Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh High Court on 24 November 2013

• Prof CNR Rao becomes 1st Indian elected to Chinese Academy of Science

• Indian Senior Womens Hockey Team Coach Inderjit Singh Gill Passed away

• Double Nobel Prize-Winning Biochemist Frederick Sanger passes away at 95

• Malala Yousafzai Received the EU’s Sakharov Human Rights Prize on 20 November 2013

• On 20 November 2013 the Former Olympic gold-medallist V Baskaran appointed as Coach of the Senior Men Hockey Team

• US sprinter and two time Olympic Medalist Darvis Patton retires

• Angela Merkel, German Chancellor selected for Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace 2013

• Anjolie Ela Menon to receive Dayawati Modi Award for Art, Culture and Education, 2013

• Abdulla Yameen sworn in as the sixth President of Maldives

• Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce were crowned World Athletes of the Year, 2013

• Gurbax Singh Sandhu Retained as the National Coach of the Men’s Indian Boxing team till 2016 Olympics

• Veteran journalist R.K. Mukker passes away at 88

• Professor Mushirul Hasan was conferred with the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship

• Yogesh Agarwal the Chairman of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)resigned from the post

• Joint Secretary Anup Wadhawan was appointed as the New Chairman of PFRDA

• Shiraz Naval Minwalla, Professor of Physics in TIFR won New Horizons in Physics Prize 2014

• Malayalam Film actor Augustine passes away at 58

• Paras Ajmera, Director of Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX) resigned from the board

• Ravichandran Ashwin Became the Fastest Indian bowler to take 100 wickets in Test cricket

• Usha Ananthasubramanian appointed as the chairperson and managing Director of public sector Bharatiya Mahila Bank

• Justice R. Banumathi, Judge of the Madras High Court was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court on 12 November 2013

• Krishna Mohan Sahni was appointed as the Chairman of the National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (NMCE) on 12 November 2013

• Shri Anand Sharma Union Minister of Commerce and Industry inaugurated Services Conclave 2013

• Ratan P Watal was appointed as the New Expenditure Secretary

• Mohammed Siddikur of Bangladesh Won the 50th Edition of Indian Open Golf Tournament 2013

• Parvinder Sohi Behuria appointed as the Secretary General of National Human Rights Commission [NHRC]

• Miss Venezuela Gabriela Isler Won Miss Universe 2013

• The 19th Kolkata International Film Festival was inaugurated by Legendary Actor Amitabh Bachchan on 10 November 2013

• Yogesh Malik Resigned as the Chief Executive Officer of Uninor

• Sunita Sharma was appointed as the Managing Director [MD] and Chief Executive Director [CEO] of the LIC Housing Finance on 6 November 2013

• The speaker of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Iswardas Rohani Passes away at 67

• Assamese Music Director Sher Choudhury passes away at 69

• Paralympic powerlifter Ali Jawad won gold at Asian Open Championships with a world-record lift

• Tarla Dalal, the First celebrity chefs of India Passes away at 77

• Imomali Rakhmon was Re-elected as the President of Tajikistan

• Mark Schwarzer, Australia Goalkeeper announced his Retirement from International Football on 6 november 2013

• Mahatma Gandhi’s Charkha was sold for Rs 1.1 Crore at UK auction

• Indian Weightlifting Federation Joint Secretary Abraham K Techi appointed as an international Weightlifting Referee

• Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ishwar Das Rohani Passes away

• Legendary Pakistani folk singer Reshma passed away

• Sebastian Vettel won Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix 2013

• Jignesh Shah Vice-chairman and a Director of Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), resigned from the board

• G.K. Pillai, the former Union Home Secretary appointed as the Chairman of the MCX-SX

• Nitish Sengupta, the former Lok Sabha and Revenue Secretary, passes away at 80

• Novak Djokovic won the BNP Paribas Masters Tennis tournament 2013 at Paris, France.

• Rohit Sharma Became Third Cricketer in the World to Score a Double Century in ODI Match.

• Gurdeep Singh Pall Appointed as the corporate vice president of Skype

• Bharat Suresh Joshi Appointed as British Deputy High Commissioner in Chennai

• Amar Babu Appointed as New President of India’s IT hardware Industry body MAIT

                               : Astronomy  :

• India Successfully Test-Fired its Nuclear-capable Dhanush Ballistic Missile

• US space agency NASA launched its MAVEN Mission to Study Mars Atmosphere

• India successfully Test-Fired the Advanced version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile on 18 November 2013

• Nasa Release new Photo of Planet Saturn,Earth taken from the Cassini Spacecraft

• Russia successfully launches the Proton-M rocket carrying a Military satellite

• India successfully test-fired it’s indigenously developed nuclear-capable Agni-I ballistic missile

• Pakistan Successfully Test-Fired surface-to-surface missile Hatf IX (Nasr) on 5 November 2013

• India Successfully Launched Historic Mission to Mars from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota

• Scientists discovered a New planet called Kepler 78b

                                  : Sports :

• Indian Team Announced For Junior Men Hockey World Cup 2013

• Nepal and UAE qualified for the ICC T20 World cup 2014

• India defeated West Indies in the ODI series

• Ireland and Afghanistan qualified for ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2014

• Formula one racing Driver Sebastian Vettel won the F1 Brazilian Grand Prix on 24 November 2013

• Virat Kohli became the fastest batsman to Score 5000 runs in ODIs

• Indian Women Hockey Team won the Silver Medal at 3rd Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2013

• Indian Men’s Hockey team finished Fifth Place at the 3rd Asian Champions Trophy 2013

• India Defeat West Indies by an innings and 51 runs in Sachin’s 199th Test

• India to host 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup

• Indian men’s Hockey team on 3 November 2013 Qualified for the Rabobank Hockey World Cup 2014

:World Organisations :

•Russia and Japan agreed to expand their Defence Ties.

: Books And Authors :

•7th Edition of  Indian Pharmacopoeia 2014 – A Book of Drug Standards at the Nirman Bhawan Released by Ghulam Nabi Azad on 4 November 2013.

: Technology  :

U.S. software giant Microsoft developed a New Sign Language Translator device: KINECT.