What is a Constitution?
A constitution is a written document that contains a set of rules for a government. It defines the fundamental political principles, and establishing the structure, procedures, powers and duties, of a government. By limiting the government's own reach, most constitutions guarantee certain rights to the people. The term constitution can be applied to any overall law that defines the functioning of a government.
Introduction to the Indian Constitution
The Constitution of India is the world's lengthiest written constitution with 395 articles and 8 schedules. It contains the good points taken from the constitution's of many countries in the world. It was passed on 26 Nov 1949 by the 'The Constituent Assembly' and is fully applicable since 26 Jan 1950. The Constituent Assembly had been elected for undivided India and held its first sitting on 9th Dec.1946, re-assembled on the 14th August 1947, as The Sovereign Constituent Assembly for the dominion of India. In regard to its composition the members were elected by indirect election by the members of The Provisional Legislative Assemblies (lower house only). At the time of signing 284 out of 299 members of the Assembly were present.
The constitution of India draws extensively from Western legal traditions in its outline of the principles of liberal democracy. It follows a British parliamentary pattern with a lower and upper house. It embodies some Fundamental Rights which are similar to the Bill of Rights declared by the United States constitution. It also borrows the concept of a Supreme Court from the US.
India is a federal system in which residual powers of legislation remain with the central government, similar to that in Canada. The constitution provides detailed lists dividing up powers between central and state governments as in Australia, and it elaborates a set of Directive Principles of State Policy as does the Irish constitution.
The constitution has provision for Schedules to be added to the constitution by amendment. The ten schedules in force cover the designations of the states and union territories; the emoluments for high-level officials; forms of oaths; allocation of the number of seats in the Rajya Sabha. A review of the constitution needs at least two-thirds of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to pass it.
The Indian constitution is one of the most frequently amended constitutions in the world. Infact the first amendment to it was passed after only a year of the adoption of the constitution and instituted numerous minor changes. Many more amendments followed, a rate of almost two amendments per year since 1950. Most of the constitution can be amended after a quorum of more than half of the members of each house in Parliament passes an amendment with a two-thirds majority vote. Articles pertaining to the distribution of legislative authority between the central and state governments must also be approved by 50 percent of the state legislatures.
Preamble of The Constitution
We, The people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:
JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;
EQUALITY of status and of opportunity and to promote among them all
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation
IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do hereby Adopt, Enact and give ourselves this Constitution.
Union Territory
A Union Territory is an administrative division of India, in the federal framework of governance. Unlike the states of India, which have their own elected governments, union territories are ruled directly by the federal government; the President of India appoints an Administrator or Lieutenant-Governor for each territory.
There are seven union territories. Delhi, the capital of India, is also a Union territory. Delhi and Pondicherry have been given partial statehood. Delhi is redefined as National Capital Territory. Delhi and Pondicherry have their own elected legislative assemblies and the executive councils of ministers, but their powers are limited; certain legislation must be reserved for the "consideration and assent" of the President of India. The following are the current Union Territories of India:
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Chandigarh
Dadra and Nagar Haveli
Daman and Diu
National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT)
Lakshadweep
Pondicherry
Union Territories of India have special rights and status due to their constitutional formation and development. They may be given this constitutional status for reasons such as safeguarding the rights of indigenous cultures of that region, averting political turmoil related to matters of administration and so on.
CAPITALS, GOVERNORS AND CHIEF MINISTERS OF STATES (As on April 01, 2012)
India is a Union of 28 States and 7 Union Territories. Each state has its own government with aGovernor as the figurehead, while each Union Territory is dministered directly by the President through an administrator appointed by him.The Governor of each state is appointed by President.The Chief Minister is the real Head of the State Government. Each State has a Council of Ministers to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions.The council of ministers is collectively responsible to the State Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha). A list of state and union territory capitals in India, includingthe name of Governors and Chief ministers of different States of India is given here in this
S. No. | STATE | CAPITAL | GOVERNOR | CHIEF MINISTER |
1. | Andhra Pradesh | Hyderabad | Shri. E. S. L. Narasimhan | Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy |
2. | Arunachal Pradesh | Itanagar | General (Rtd.) J.J. Singh | Shri Nabam Tuki |
3. | Assam | Dispur | Janaki Ballav Pattanaik | Shri Tarun Gogoi |
4. | Bihar | Patna | Sh. Devanand Konwar | Shri Nitish Kumar |
5. | Chhattisgarh | Raipur | Shri Shekhar Dutt | Dr. Raman Singh |
6. | Goa | Panaji | Shri B. V. Wanchoo | Shri Manohar Parrikar |
7. | Gujarat | Gandhi Nagar | Dr. Kamla Beniwal | Shri Narendra Modi |
8. | Haryana | Chandigarh | Shri Jagannath Pahadia | Bhupinder Singh Hooda |
9. | Himachal Pradesh | Shimla | Urmila Ben Patel | Prem Kumar Dhumal |
10. | Jammu Kashmir | Srinagar and | Sh. N. N. Vohra | Omar Abdullah |
Jammu | ||||
11. | Jharkhand | Ranchi | Dr. Syed Ahmed | Arjun Munda |
12. | Karnataka | Bangalore | Shri Hans Raj Bhardwaj | Jagadish Shettar |
13. | Kerala | Thiruvananthapuram | Shri Hans Raj Bhardwaj | Oommen Chandy |
14. | Madhya Pradesh | Bhopal | Shri. Ram Naresh Yadav | Shivraj Singh Chouhan |
15. | Maharashtra | Mumbai | K. Sankara Narayanan | Prithviraj Chavan |
16. | Manipur | Imphal | Sh. Gurbachan Jagat | Okram Ibobi Singh |
17. | Meghalaya | Shillong | Sh. Ranjit Shekhar | Mukul Sangma |
Mooshahary | ||||
18. | Mizoram | Aizawl | Shri Vakkom Purushothaman | Shri Lal Thanhawla |
19. | Nagaland | Kohima | Shri Nikhil Kumar | Neiphiu Rio |
20. | Orissa | Bhubaneshwar | Murlidhar Chandrakant | Naveen Patnaik |
Bhandare | ||||
21. | Punjab | Chandigarh | Shri Shivraj V. Patil | Shri Parkash Singh Badal |
22. | Rajasthan | Jaipur | Smt. Margaret Alva | Shri Ashok Gehlot |
23. | Sikkim | Gangtok | Sh. Balmiki Prasad Singh | Shri Pawan Chamling |
24. | Tamil Nadu | Chennai | Shri Thiru. K Rosaiah | Jayalalithaa Jayaram |
25. | Tripura | Agartala | Dr. D Y Patil | Shri Manik Sarkar |
26. | Uttar Pradesh | Lucknow | Shri B L Joshi | Shri Akhilesh Yadav |
27. | Uttarakhand | Dehradun | Shri Aziz Qureshi | Shri Vijay Bahuguna |
28. | West Bengal | Kolkata | Shri M. K Narayanan | Mamta Banerjee |
(As on May 6, 2011) | ||||
S. No. | UNION TERRITORY | CAPITAL | Lt. GOVERNOR/ADMIN. | CHIEF MINISTER |
1. | Andaman and | Port Blair | Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Bhopinder Singh | ______ |
Nicobar Islands | ||||
2. | Chandigarh | Chandigarh | Shri Shivraj V. Patil | ______ |
3. | Dadar and Nagar Haveli | Silvassa | Satya Gopal | ______ |
4. | Daman and Diu | Daman | Satya Gopal | ______ |
5. | Delhi | Delhi | Tajender Khanna | Smt. Sheila Dikshit |
6. | Lakshadeep | Kavaratti | Shri J K Dadu | ______ |
7. | Puducherry | Puducherry | Shri Thiru Iqbal Singh | N. Rangaswamy |
List of all presidents of India
President of India is the head of state in India and first citizen of India.In hindi we called President as Rashtrapati. President is the supreme commander of armed forces in India.In India President is elected by the members of the Parliament houses Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.There are till now 12 presidents of India. Time period of India President is 5 years. Dr.Rajendra Prasad is the 1st president of India.He was elected president in Jan 26, 1950.Here in this resource there is list of all India Presidents :
1. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India. He was president of India from Jan 26, 1950 to May 13, 1962.
2. Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the second President of India. He was president of India from May 13, 1962 to May 13, 1967.
3. Dr.Zakir Husain was the third President of India. He was president of India from May 13, 1967 to May 13, 1969.
Muhammad Hidayatullah *Acting Preodent 1969 July 20 -1969 august 24
4 Varahagiri Venkata Giri was the forth President of India. He was president of India from Aug 24, 1969 to Aug 24, 1974.
5. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the Fifth President of India. He was president of India from Aug 24, 1974 to Feb 11, 1977.
Basappa Danappa Jatti *Jatti was the vice president of India during Ahmed's term of office, and was sworn in as Acting President of India upon Ahmed's death. He earlier functioned as the Chief Minister for the State of Mysore.,11 February 1977 to 25 July 1977
6 Shri Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the Sixth President of India. He was president of India from Jul 25, 1977 to Jul 25, 1982.
7. Giani Zail Singh was the Seventh President of India. He was president of India from Jul 25, 1982 to Jul 25, 1987.
8. R.Venkataraman was the Eighth President of India. He was president of India from Jul 25, 1987 to Jul 25, 1992.
9 Dr.Shanker Dayal Sharma was the Nineth President of India. He was president of India from Jul 25, 1992 to Jul 25, 1997
.
10. Kocheril Raman Narayanan was the Tenth President of India 25 July 1997 25 July 2002
11 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam is the Eleventh President of India. He is president of India from Jul 25, 2002 to Jul 25, 2007.
12 Pratibha Patil is the Tweleveth President of India and first women President of India . He is president of India since to Jul 25, 2007
13 Pranab Mukherjee 25 July 2012 Incumbent Mohammad Hamid Ansari 2012 election
Mukherjee held various posts in the cabinet ministry for the Government of India such as Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission.He is from West Bengal and the first Bengali President of the country.
List of all Prime Ministers of India
No | Name | Entered office | Left office | Date of Birth | Date of Death | Political party |
1 | Jawahar Lal Nehru | 15-Aug-1947 | 27-May-1964 | 14-Nov-1889 | 27-May-1964 | Indian NationalCongress |
2 | Gulzarilal Nanda | 27-May-1964 | 9 June 1964 * | 4 July 1898 | 15-Jan-1998 | Indian NationalCongress |
3 | Lal Bahadur Shastri | 09-Jun-1964 | 11-Jan-1966 | 02-Oct-1904 | 11-Jan-1966 | Indian NationalCongress |
4 | Gulzarilal Nanda | 11-Jan-1966 | 24 January 1966 * | 4-July-1898 | 15-Jan-1998 | Indian NationalCongress |
5 | Indira Gandhi | 24-Jan-1966 | 24-Mar-1977 | 19-Nov-1917 | 31-Oct-1984 | Indian NationalCongress |
6 | Morarji Desai | 24-Mar-1977 | 28-Jul-1979 | 29-Feb-1996 | 10-Apr-1995 | Janata Party |
7 | Charan Singh | 28-Jul-1979 | 14-Jan-1980 | 23-Dec-1902 | 29-May-1987 | Janata Party |
8 | Indira Gandhi | 14-Jan-1980 | 31-Oct-1984 | 19-Nov-1917 | 31-Oct-1984 | Indian NationalCongress |
9 | Rajiv Gandhi | 31-Oct-1984 | 02-Dec-1989 | 20-Aug-1944 | 21-May-1991 | Indian National Congress(Indira) |
10 | Vishwanath PratapSingh | 02-Dec-1989 | 10-Nov-1990 | 25-Jun-1931 | 27-Nov-2008 | Janata Dal |
11 | Chandra Shekhar | 10-Nov-1990 | 21-Jun-1991 | 01-Jul-1927 | 08-Jul-2007 | Samajwadi JanataParty |
12 | P. V. Narasimha Rao | 21-Jun-1991 | 16-May-1996 | 28-Jun-1921 | 23-Dec-2004 | Indian NationalCongress |
13 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 16-May-1996 | 01-Jun-1996 | 25-Dec-1924 | Alive | Bharatiya JanataParty |
14 | H. D. Deve Gowda | 01-Jun-1996 | 21-Apr-1997 | 18-May-1933 | Alive | Janata Dal |
15 | Inder Kumar Gujral | 21-Apr-1997 | 19-Mar-1998 | 04-Dec-1919 | Alive | Janata Dal |
16 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | 19-Mar-1998 | 22-May-2004 | 25-Dec-1924 | Alive | Bharatiya JanataParty |
17 | Dr. Manmohan Singh | 22-May-2004 | Incumbent | 26-Sep-1932 | Alive |