Civil Service Bytes

What is Article 370? Article 370 of the Indian Constitution is  a ‘temporary provision’  which grants special autonomous status to Jammu & Kashmir. Under Part XXI of the Constitution of India , which deals with “Temporary, Transitional and Special provisions”, the state of Jammu & Kashmir has been accorded special status under Article 370. All the provisions of the Constitution which are applicable to other states are not applicable to J&K. Important provisions under the article: According to this article, except for defence, foreign affairs, finance and communications, Parliament needs the state government’s concurrence for applying all other laws. Thus  the state’s residents live under a separate set of laws, including those related to citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights, as compared to other Indians . Indian citizens from other states cannot purchase land or property in Jammu & Kashmir . U...

As many researchers dig into research papers published by others to make their research work successful before publishing it, the same way our constitution framers also referred to other successful constitutions/democracies and handpicked articles/provisions from other constitutions that matched the diversity of our country at that time for its successful working. With over 300 years of dominance by the British Government on India priced our individuality and identity. The years of struggle were long and difficult. The British administration never gave us the chance to develop administrative system that could benefit Indians. During the final years of struggle for freedom, the eminent leaders of that time together sat down to formulate Constitution of India. The leaders wanted to formulate a constitution which would help India to develop its economy according to the global economy as well as to improve lives of poverty stricken population of India. Therefore elaborate discussions...

Horizontal Devolution Formula  –  Horizontal devolution means transfer of finance between states. The Commission added a new criterion of forest cover for devolution of Central taxes which has gone against the nine states. The panel has assigned 7.5 per cent weight to forest cover for inter-se determination of the shares of taxes to the states, while population carries 17.5 per cent weight, demographic change 10 percent, income distance 50 and area 15 per cent weight. With the addition of the new criterion, Uttar Pradesh is the biggest loser followed by Bihar. Meanwhile, 19 states stand to gain from the new arrangement. Arunachal Pradesh is the biggest gainer. Devolution to states:  It has recommended that devolution should be primary mode of funds transfers to states. States’ share in net proceeds from tax collections be 42% — a huge jump from 32% recommend by the 13th Finance Commission, and the largest change ever in the percentage of devolution. The higher ta...

Horizontal Devolution Formula  –  Horizontal devolution means transfer of finance between states. The Commission added a new criterion of forest cover for devolution of Central taxes which has gone against the nine states. The panel has assigned 7.5 per cent weight to forest cover for inter-se determination of the shares of taxes to the states, while population carries 17.5 per cent weight, demographic change 10 percent, income distance 50 and area 15 per cent weight. With the addition of the new criterion, Uttar Pradesh is the biggest loser followed by Bihar. Meanwhile, 19 states stand to gain from the new arrangement. Arunachal Pradesh is the biggest gainer. Devolution to states:  It has recommended that devolution should be primary mode of funds transfers to states. States’ share in net proceeds from tax collections be 42% — a huge jump from 32% recommend by the 13th Finance Commission, and the largest change ever in the percentage of devolution. The higher ta...

Appointment of Supreme Court Judge in India The Supreme court Judges in India are appointed by the President on the advice of his Council of Ministers and in consultation with such persons as he deems fit. In the appointment of the Chief Justice, the President consults such judges of the Supreme Court and High courts as he thinks necessary. Qualification for appointment as a Supreme Court Judge Article 124 (3) of the constitution prescribes that for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court a person must he (a) a citizen of India, (b) has been a judge of any High Court for at least 5 years, or (c) has been an advocate in a High Court for 10 years or is in the opinion of the President a distinguished jurist. There is no fixed tenure of service for a judge. He continues in service till the completion of 65th year of age. Vacancy of Post of Judge of Supreme Court inIndia Article  124 (4) prescribes the methods how the post of a judge may fall vacant. The...

A united Europe, which turned centuries of war into decades of peace, must preserve its remarkable legacy, says US Preside nt S. President Barack Obama has urged British citizens to vote to stay in the European Union in the referendum on June 23. In what is likely to be his last visit to the U.K. as President, Mr. Obama said a united Europe, which turned “centuries of war in Europe into decades of peace”, must preserve its “remarkable legacy.” He placed the EU in the class of post-war international institutions and initiatives like the United Nations, Bretton Woods, the Marshall Plan and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Mr. Obama told British citizens that they should be “proud that the EU has helped spread British values and practices — democracy, the rule of law, open markets — across the continent and to its periphery”.

Sedition is an offence defined in Sec 124 A of the IPC. As per this definition anyone who brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government by words spoken or written or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise is guilty of the offence of sedition. The definition is so exhaustive that it does not leave out of its purview any possible mode of self expression, simply by using the words “or otherwise”. The punishment for the offence of sedition is life imprisonment but lesser punishment can also be awarded. Out of the three explanations added to the Section, two seek to clarify that expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government or administrative action is not an offence. But any attempt to excite contempt, hatred or disaffection will definitely make such permissible disapprobation also liable to be punished. It is the ordinary police constable who will in the first person decide whether a bri...

Education is a desirable quality among elected leaders, but making it compulsory to contest polls raises questions. Preet Singh, 62, has never been to school, has never cleared an exam. And, yet, he reads six Hindi newspapers a day, lectures his neighbours about their democratic rights and even won an election as a member of a panchayat in 1991. In 1994, after the 73rd amendment to the Constitution mandated 33% reservationfor women in panchayats, Preet Singh got his wife Baladevi to contest as, he confesses, “proxy candidate”. She did so well, he says, that in 1999, she contested on her own steam, and won again. But in the just concluded Haryana panchayat polls, although Singh campaigned vigorously for other candidates, neither he nor his wife could contest. Without their school certificates, they were, by law, ineligible. In September last year, as the previous panchayats’ five-year teure was coming to an end, the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Haryana government passed...