UPSC Notes

Salient Features of Indian Constitution The Constitution of India is a foundational document that governs India. It  is not only the highest law in the country but also a symbol of India’s values and governance. Adopted in 1950, it shapes India’s political landscape and ensures rights and freedoms for all its citizens. This article will…

In Indian polity, Emergency refers to a situation where the Central executive exercises extraordinary powers given by the Constitution, to deal with a crisis caused by either internal or external factors that threaten the nation’s stability, unity and sovereignty. Emergency provisions are given in Articles 352 to 360 in Part XVIII of the Indian Constitution….

Despite the various provisions made in the Indian Constitution for the smooth functioning of the Indian Union, it has faced many practical challenges. Most of these challenges orbit around the demand for greater autonomy. In post-independent India, the need for planned development, national integration and maintenance of law and order led to a significant degree…

The success of the Indian federal system rests not only on cordial relations and close collaboration between the Center and the states but also on the interrelationships of the states. In India, interstate relations are characterised by both conflict and collaboration. There are disputes among Indian states over sharing water and territorial boundaries. The disputes…

Centre State Relations Centre State Relations in India are fundamental aspect of the country’s federal structure, ensuring a balance of power and responsibilities between the central government and individual state governments. These relations are categorized into three broad spheres: legislative, administrative, and financial. Legislative relations define the law-making powers, administrative relations deal with the distribution…

In modern democracies, two kinds of relationships exist between the Legislature and the Executive; it can be defined by either the Parliamentary or the Presidential government system. The Parliamentary system involves a fusion of the Executive and Legislature, and the Executive is responsible to the Legislature for its acts and policies. It is also known…

Federalism is a governance mechanism in which the state’s sovereignty is distributed between different units, i.e. centre, state and local bodies. It is a vertical distribution of power, i.e. division of power between different layers of government. It seeks to define the relationship between the central government and regional governments. It institutionalises political cooperation and…

“Without the basic structure, we end up with a constitution without constitutionalism”.   -Upendra Buxi How comprehensively can Parliament amend the Constitution? Can it change the very nature of the Constitution? Can it rewrite the whole Constitution? These were the questions that our Supreme Court, the final interpreter of the Constitution, faced in the 1960s…

Fundamental Rights Fundamental Rights represents the essential human rights that are universally recognized as inherent to all individuals irrespective of their nationality, place of residence, sex, ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. In the context of India, these Fundamental rights are given in the Indian Constitution, specially in Part III (Article 12…