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Polity and Governance

Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisa- ernor’s Act and the reorganisation Act says 153 State
tion act laws will be repealed.

 Context:
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, Three-member committee
2019 which came into effect from 31st October 2019 The Home Ministry appointed a three-member com-
defines Jammu and Kashmir as no more a state and mittee to apportion the assets and liabilities of the
has divided the state into two Union Territories. State of J&K between the two UTs. The committee is
Description: yet to submit its report. The former defence secre-
tary Sanjay Mitra will be the chairman of the commit-
With this the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir tee, retired IAS officer Arun Goyal and retired Indi-
and the Ranbir Penal Code will cease to exist where an Civil Accounts Service (ICAS) officer Giriraj Prasad
the Union Territory of J&K will have a legislature and Gupta will be its members.
the UT of Ladakh will have no legislature.

Under the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 passed by

Parliament on August 6, the number of seats in the
Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of of J&K
has been increased from 107 to 114.

Both the Union Territories will have Lieutenant Gov-

ernors as administrators who will be appointed by
the President of India. Their tenure will be deter-
mined by the President.

After October 31, 106 Central laws will be applicable

to J&K, along with 166 State Acts, including the Gov-

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Judiciary Services:
The Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir and
Union territory of Ladakh will have a common High
Court which is of Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
The Judges of the High Court of Jammu and Kash-
mir for the existing State of Jammu and Kashmir
holding office immediately before the appointed
day shall become on that day the Judges of the
High Court.
The expenditure in respect of salaries and allow-
ances of the Judges of the common High Court
shall be allocated amongst the Union territory of
Jammu and Kashmir and Union territory of Ladakh
on the basis of population ratio.
All India Services:
The members of the cadres of Indian Administrative
Service, Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Ser-
vice for the existing State of Jammu and Kashmir, on
and from the appointed day, shall continue to func-
tion on the existing cadres and the centre will be in
direct control of the Jammu and Kashmir police and
law and order matters.  clusivity of school systems in these countries. The
Lieutenant Governor:
Lieutenant Governor of Union territory of Jam-
mu and Kashmir may nominate two members to
the Legislative Assembly to give representation
to women, if in his opinion, women are not ade-
quately represented in the Legislative Assembly.
The Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh shall be as-
sisted by advisor(s) to be appointed by the Central
Government. The Ministers shall hold office during
the pleasure of the Lieutenant Governor and the
Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsi-
ble to the Legislative Assembly.
The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Lieu-
tenant Governor and the other Ministers shall be
appointed by the Lieutenant Governor on the ad-
vice of the Chief Minister.
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CSB IAS ACADEMY
Programme for International Stu-
dents Assessment (PISA)
 Context:
Union Human Resource Development Minister re-
cently reviewed preparations for the Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA) 2021 which
is a study done to produce comparable data on edu-
cation policy and outcomes across countries. What
is the aim of the test and how has India performed
so far.
Description:
Initiated by the Organization for Economic Coopera-
tion and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental
economic organisation with 36 member countries,
the Programme for International Student Assessment
(PISA) is a study done to produce comparable data on
education policy and outcomes across countries. 
The study, which began in the year 2000, con-
ducts a test evaluating 15-year-olds in member and
non-member countries to assess the quality and in-
PISA test is held every three years and the next test
will be held in 2021, in which students from govern-
ment schools in Chandigarh will represent India.
Cabinet has already given ex-post facto approval
to the Agreement between India and the Organiza-
tion for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) for participating in the Programme for Inter-
national Students Assessment (PISA), which will be
conducted by the OECD in 2021 and the Agreement
was signed on 28th January 2019.
 Who sets the test?
The test is set by educational experts from across
the world. Until now, experts from more than eighty
countries have contributed towards framing the test
questions, mostly from countries that have already
participated in the test.
India’s participation in PISA:
India had taken part in Programme for International
Student Assessment (PISA) in 2009 and bagged the
72nd rank among 73 participating countries. Later,
the HRD Ministry, under the NDA-II government, re-
visited this decision in 2016 and the Kendriya Vidy-
alaya Sangathan (KVS) had set up a committee to
review the matter and submitted its report in De-
cember 2016. The report recommended for partic-
ipation in test in 2018. However,  India missed the
application deadline for the 2018 cycle.
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About PISA:
PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Eco-
nomic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an
intergovernmental organization of industrialized
countries, and is conducted in the United States by
NCES.
It is an international assessment that measures
15-year-old students’ reading, mathematics, and
science literacy every three years. First conduct-
ed in 2000, the major domain of study rotates be-
tween reading, mathematics, and science in each
cycle.
PISA also includes measures of general or cross-cur-
ricular competencies, such as collaborative prob-
lem solving.
What is the aim of the test?
The aim of the test is not to rank the countries which
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CSB IAS ACADEMY
volunteer to participate in the evaluation, but to give
a comprehensive analysis of how education systems
are working in terms of preparing its students for
higher education and subsequent employment.
After collecting results from across the world, experts
translate these results into data points which are
evaluated to score the countries.
If a country scores well, it suggests that not only does
it has an effective education system but an inclusive
one, in which students from privileged and underpriv-
ileged backgrounds perform equally well. Further,
the test evaluates whether the education system in
these countries teach students adequate social and
community skills, which will enable the students to
excel holistically as a member of the workforce.
OECD also hopes that the test will allow countries to
learn from each other about effective education pol-
icies and improve their own systems, using others as
examples
Electoral Bonds
Context:
Electoral bonds worth ₹232 cr. were sold and taking
the total number of bonds sold from March 2018 till
October 2019 to 12,313 and the total value to ₹6,128
crore, according to data shared by the Association for
Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Description:
Electoral Bonds that allow donors to pay political
parties using banks as an intermediary. The electoral
bonds are aimed at rooting out the current system of
largely anonymous cash donations made to political
parties which lead to the generation of black money
in the economy.
The bonds are sold by the State Bank of India and can
be bought by Indian citizens or companies. Political
parties can then redeem the bonds, which work as
anonymous donations.
Mumbai had the highest amount of bonds at ₹1,880
crore, followed by Kolkata at ₹1,440 crore, Delhi at
₹919 crore and Hyderabad at ₹838 crore, while all
other cities accounted for ₹1,051 crore from March
2018 till October 2019.
Although called a bond, the banking instrument re-
sembling promissory notes will not carry any inter-
est. It will be a bearer instrument and will not carry
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the name of the payee.

It can be bought for any value, in multiples of Rs

1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh or Rs 1 crore
and can be purchased by a citizen of India, or entities
incorporated or established in India.

Political Parties:
Only the registered Political Parties which have
secured not less than one per cent of the votes
polled in the last Lok Sabha elections or the State
Legislative Assembly are eligible to receive the
Electoral Bonds.

 Encourage political donations of clean mon-

ey from individuals, companies, HUF, religious
groups, charities, etc and after purchasing the
bonds, these entities can hand them to political
parties of their choice, which must redeem them
within the prescribed time.
 The introduction of the electoral bond scheme is
part of what appears to be a growing trend away
from transparency and accountability, two values
which were already sparse in relation to Indian po-
litical parties where Opponents to the scheme al-
lege that since the identity of the donor of elector-
al bonds has been kept anonymous, it could lead
to an influx of black money. Others allege that the
scheme was designed to help big corporate hous-
es donate money without their identity being re-
vealed.
All visitors to Meghalaya must
register
Context:
Meghalaya has brought an ordinance that makes reg-
istration on entry mandatory for visitors who intend
to spend more than 24 hours in the state. According
to an amendment to the Act, any person who is not a
resident of Meghalaya and intend to stay more than
24 hours in the State will have to furnish document
to the government
The State cabinet approved the amended Meghalaya
Residents, Safety and Security Act, 2016. An amend-
ment to the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Secu-
rity Act, 2016 has been passed to include this pro-
vision amid demands for an inner line permit (ILP)
system to stop illegal immigration into the state.

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Any person who is not a resident of Meghalaya and
intend to stay more than 24 hours in the State will
have to furnish document to the government. This is
done for their (outsiders) own interest as well as for
the interest of the government and people of Me-
ghalaya.
Exemption:
Employees of the Centre, State and District Councils
are exempted from the purview of the Act.
The instructions had been given to all landlords to
make sure that papers were in place and they should
inform the traditional community heads (Rangbah
Shnongs, Dollois and Nokmas).
Any person, who willfully fails to furnish the informa- Context:
tion or provide false document, will be liable to be
punished under various sections of the Indian Penal Directorate General of Training (DGT), under the ae-
Code (IPC).
Background:
CSB IAS ACADEMY
Inner Line Permit ?
Inner Line Permit is an official travel document
issued by the Government of India to allow in-
ward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected/
restricted area for a limited period. It is obligatory
for Indian citizens from outside those states to
obtain permit for entering into the protected state.
With the ILP, the government aims to regulate
movement to certain areas located near the inter-
national border of India.  
Skills Build Platform
 
gis of Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneur-
ship (MSDE), launched the Skills Build platform in col-
laboration with IBM.

There was an increasing demand to enhance vig- Description:

il against influx of non-indigenous people in the hill
state, following the implementation of the National As part of the programme, a two-year advanced
Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. diploma in IT, networking and cloud computing,
co-created and designed by IBM, will be offered at
The updated final NRC, which validates bonafide Indi- the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) & National Skill
an citizens of Assam was released in August this year Training Institutes (NSTIs).
with the authority conducting the exercise shutting
out the citizenship claims of over 19 lakh applicants. The platform will be extended to train ITI & NSTI fac-
ulty on building skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI). 
The amendment comes in the backdrop of demands
by civil society and political leaders, that people ex- Other Inputs:
cluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in The digital platform will provide a personal assess-
Assam might try to enter Meghalaya. ment of the cognitive capabilities and personality
Official Permits: via MyInnerGenius to the students.
This initiative is part of IBM’s global commitment
There are two kinds of official permits prescribed to create a job-ready workforce and to build the
by Government for entering into any area within next generation of skills needed for new collar ca-
Arunachal Pradesh. They are, Inner Line Permit (ILP) reers.
and Protected Area Permit (PAP). IBM joined hands with Ministry of Skill Develop-
ment & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in early 2018 to
Any Domestic tourist coming to the mentioned state
launch a first-of-its kind ‘New Collar Curriculum.
has to obtain an Inner Line Permit. The Permit is
granted as a routine for the tourists and so it should They will then learn foundational knowledge
not deter any tourist from coming to state. about digital technologies, as well as professional
skills such as resume-writing, problem solving and
All the foreigners are required have the Protection communication.
Area Permit or PAP for entering into the state. They The platform is deployed with the support of lead-
can obtain the Protected Area Permit from, All Indian ing NGOs like Unnati and Edunet Foundation where
Missions abroad, and Home ministry. the IBM Volunteers along with the NGOS will offer
students personalised coaching and experiential
learning opportunities.

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Office of Profit Odisha too has appointed MLAs as chairpersons of
district planning committees by amending an Act.
Context: The Supreme Court struck down The Assam Parlia-
mentary Secretaries (Appointment, Salaries, Allow-
President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected a petition ances and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2004 in July
demanding disqualification of MLAs for allegedly 2017 leading to a wave of resignations in Northeast-
holding office of profit.  ern states.
Office of Profit:
According to Articles 102(1)(a) and 191(1)(a) of the
Constitution, an MP or MLA is barred from holding
an office of profit as it can put them in a position to
gain a financial benefit.

If an MLA or an MP holds a government office and

receives benefits from it, then that office is termed
as an “office of profit”. A person will be disquali-
fied if he holds an office of profit under the central
or state government, other than an office declared
not to disqualify its holder by a law passed by Par-
liament or state legislature.
Recent Issue
A petition was filed before the President seeking
disqualification of the lawmakers claiming that they
were enjoying office of profit by being co-chairper-
sons of district disaster management authorities in Judiciary’s role in defining the office of profit:
11 districts of Delhi.
Pradyut Bordoloi vs Swapan Roy (2001) the Supreme
The issue was referred to Election Commission which Court outlined the four broad principles for deter-
gave an opinion in August this year that holding the mining whether an office attracts the constitutional
office of co-chairperson of a district disaster manage- disqualification.
ment authority does not attract disqualification as
Firstly, whether the government exercises control
MLA since there is no remuneration by way of salary
over appointment, removal and performance of the
and allowances.
functions of the office and the Second, whether the
As per law, the President accepts the opinion of the office has any remuneration attached to it.
Election Commission in cases of office of profit.
Third, whether the body in which the office is held
has government powers (releasing money, allotment
of land, granting licenses etc.). And finally, whether
Do other states in India have MLAs holding the office enables the holder to influence by way of
offices of profit? patronage.
West Bengal, Karnataka, Telangana, Nagaland, Me- What do parliamentary secretaries do?
ghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, Mizoram and
Manipur have had similar incidents. In West Bengal, In the Westminster system, a parliamentary sec-
Telangana and Punjab, the respective High Courts retary is a Member of Parliament who assists a
called the appointments “unconstitutional” and Minister in their duties. Prime Ministers and Chief
struck down the appointments. Ministers usually appoint parliamentary secretar-
ies from their own parties.
The case regarding appointment of parliamentary
secretaries is pending in the Karnataka High Court. In
Rajasthan, the State passes a Bill in October 2017 to
make the posts constitutional, but the validity of this
law has been challenged.

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Voluntary Organ Donor’s ‘’Nation- of authentication to prevent fabrication of identity or
al Registry’’ other fraud in the process.

Context: All hospitals engaged in transplantation procedures

must invest in a biometric system linked to the na-
The Committee of nine doctors from PGIMER, Chan- tional database of Aadhaar and PAN numbers.
digarh has pushed for a National Registry of Donors,
and recommended a biometrics-based authentica- What are the Committee’s recommendations
tion of donors and recipients. regarding the consent process?

Description: The Committee recommended that a donor card

should be treated as a Living Directive for cadaver
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the donations, and mandatory informed consent should
Centre and the states of Punjab and Haryana, as well be taken in case of live donors after explaining to
as the Union Territory of Chandigarh, to implement them the risks involved in donation surgery.
‘The Transplant of Human Organs and Tissues Act,
1994’ in letter and spirit, and to also consider the Right be given to the donor to withdraw consent any
recommendations of an Expert Committee set up to time before the surgery and has suggested a ‘wait
give suggestions for an effective implementation of period’ or cooling period to allow rethinking on the
the law. part of the live donor, and has also sought a proce-
dure for mandatory confidential psychological analy-
The Committee of nine doctors from PGIMER, Chan- sis of the donor in private before presenting them to
digarh has pushed for a National Registry of Donors, the authorization committee.
and recommended a biometrics-based authentica-
tion of donors and recipients. Has the Committee recommended any reim-
bursement for the donor?
What is The Transplant of Human Organs and
Tissues Act, 1994, and how was the Expert The Committee has recommended that a lumpsum
Committee formed? monetary reimbursement be given to the donor to-
wards expenses related to the transplantation, and
The 1994 Act governs the transplantation of human suggested a payment of at least Rs 50,000 at the time
organs and tissues in India, including the donation of of discharge.
organs after death. In 2016, two public interest peti-
tions were filed in the High Court, seeking effective It has also called for a system to provide for medical
implementation of the law. insurance of the donor, and also for their post surgi-
cal needs.
In May 2019, the PGIMER was asked to constitute a
committee of doctors for deliberations over the sub- What has the Committee said about govern-
ject, and to submit a report containing measures to ment institutions and awareness process?
promote cadaver donations. The process of organ donation and consent involves
religious beliefs, social taboos and certain apprehen-
sions by the relatives, as per the Committee there
What did the Committee say about a digital needs to be the involvement of certified NGOs and
database and biometric verification? religious bodies to create positive awareness.

The panel recommended the creation of a ‘Nation-
al Registry of Voluntary Organ Donors’, and it may
be based on a unique national ID number given by
the National Organ & Tissue Transplant Organisation
(NOTTO).
The database of all surgeons and medical experts
sanctioned for the transplantation should also be
maintained.
The government hospitals and transplant centres
should be given priority attention to improve the de-
ceased organ donation, and that measures should be
taken to prevent the trend of employing visiting sur-
geons at private centres in violation of practice regis-
tration norms.

It recommended that the identity of the donor and

the recipient be verified through a biometric system

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Ethanol production The TFS component consists of sucrose along with
the reducing sugars glucose and fructose. Most of
Context:  this TFS component gets crystallised into sugar, and
the remaining part is called molasses.
In September this year, the government approved
an increase in the price of ethanol to be procured
by public sector oil marketing companies from sugar
mills for blending with petrol for the 2019-20.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests announced

that mills would not require separate environmen-
tal clearance to produce additional ethanol from
B-heavy molasses.
Description:
The proposals to undertake additional ethanol pro-
duction from B-heavy molasses/sugarcane juice/sug-
ar syrup/sugar would be considered under the provi-
sions of the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment)
notification, 2006, by an expert appraisal committee
for granting environmental clearance.

 Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is a liquid that has several

uses. At 95% purity, it is called rectified spirit and is
used as the intoxicating ingredient in alcoholic bever-
ages. At 99%-plus purity, ethanol is used for blending
with petrol.

  
Why focus on more ethanol?
Mills currently have all-time-high stocks of sugar, and
they have been at loggerheads with farmers over
non-payment of dues. Mill owners insist that the rea-
son behind their woes is excess production of sugar
and fall in its price.
In India, ethanol production is mostly by ferment-
ing molasses to meet the annual target of 5% Under the circumstances, ethanol is the only real
blending of petrol with ethanol. But with India set- saviour — both for mills and cane growers.
ting a target of blending petrol with 10% of biofu-
el by 2022, other sources such as rice and wheat In September this year, the government approved
straw have to be considered. an increase in the price of ethanol to be procured
by public sector oil marketing companies from sugar
Both products are made from molasses, a byproduct mills for blending with petrol for the 2019-20 supply
of sugar manufacturing. For making sugar, mills crush year from December 1.
sugarcane which typically has a total fermentable
sugars (TFS) content of 14%. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also al-
lowed conversion of old sugar into ethanol, which

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again is expected to help mills deal with the current to deliver justice, looked at data indicators from the
overproduction in the sweetener and make timely four pillars.
payments to farmers for the cane delivered by them.
The indicators, across the pillars, covered the themes
Ethanol production has been additionally facilitated like infrastructure, human resources, diversity (gen-
with the government mandating 10% blending of der, SC/ST/OBC), budgets, workload and trends over
petrol with ethanol. the last five years.

The significance of the Feni river

and MoU between India and Ban-
India Justice Report has been re- gladesh
leased
Context:
Context: 
The Union Cabinet approved an Memorandum of
India Justice Report (IJR) has been released which Understanding (MoU) between India and Bangla-
has been prepared by Tata Trusts in collabora- desh on the withdrawal of 1.82 cusecs (cubic feet
tion with Centre for social Justice, Common Cause, per second) of water from the Feni river by India for
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Daksh, TISS- a drinking water supply scheme for Sabroom town in
Prayas and Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. Tripura.
Description:  Description:
The India Justice Report 2019 is based on publicly The Feni river forms part of the India-Bangladesh bor-
available data of different government entities on der. It originates in the South Tripura district, passes
the four pillars of justice delivery — police, judiciary, through Sabroom town on the Indian side, and meets
prisons and legal aid. the Bay of Bengal after it flows into Bangladesh.
Maharashtra has topped the list of states in deliver-  There has been no water-sharing agreement
ing justice to people followed by Kerala, Tamil Nadu, between the countries on the Feni previously.
Punjab and Haryana.
The dispute over the sharing of the river water has
Among the small states (where population is less been long-standing. It was taken up between India
than one crore each), Goa has topped the list fol- and Pakistan (before the independence of Bangla-
lowed by Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh. desh) in 1958 during a Secretary-level meeting in
As per the findings, the country, as a whole, has New Delhi.
about 18,200 judges with about 23% sanctioned Other projects on the Feni
posts vacant.
In Tripura, a 150-metre long, 4-lane bridge across the
Women are also poorly represented in these pillars, Feni is being built between India and Bangladesh,
constituting just seven per cent of the police. Prisons where the river forms the border between the two
are over-occupied at 114%, where 68% are under tri- countries.
als awaiting investigation, inquiry or trial.
It is expected to be completed by March 2020 at
Regarding budgets, most states are not able to fully an estimated expenditure of Rs 73 crore and once
utilise the funds given to them by the Centre, while ready, it would connect Tripura with Chittagong port
the increase in spending on the police, prisons and in Bangladesh, which is only 70 km away from the In-
judiciary does not keep pace with overall increase in do-Bangla border, and would play an important role
state expenditure. in the proposed economic corridor through India,
Some pillars also remain affected by low budgets. Bangladesh, China and Myanmar.
India’s per capita spend on free legal aid-which 80% Sabroom is expected to transform into the largest
of the population is eligible for — for instance is 75 transit hub in the Northeast after the bridge is ready.
paise per annum.
 In August 2019, India and Bangladesh held a wa-
The report, in order to assess the capacity of states ter secretary-level meeting of the Joint Rivers Com-

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mission (JRC) in Dhaka, where it was agreed to

collect data and prepare water-sharing agreements
for seven rivers — Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti,
Dharla, Dudhkumar, and Feni.
Study moots lowering the age of
consent
Context:
A new study calls for a need to distinguish between
self-arranged marriages among older adolescents
and forced child marriages to protect teens from so-
cial stigma, parental backlash and punitive action.
 Description:
The report titled “Why Girls Run Away To Marry —
Adolescent Realities and Socio-Legal Responses in
India” is based on a qualitative study of 15 girls aged
15-20 years from Jaipur, Delhi and Mumbai who had
been in a consensual relationship, some of which re-
sulted in self-arranged marriages.

These case studies involved intra and inter caste and

interfaith relationships. These cases were from be-
tween 2010 and 2016 to assess the impact of the Pro-
tection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012.

The main theme is a case for an age of consent that

The MoU stands to benefit Sabroom town on the is lower than the age of marriage to decriminal-
southern tip of Tripura. The present supply of drink- ise sex among consenting older adolescents to pro-
ing water to Sabroom town is inadequate. The tect them from the misuse of law for enforcing pa-
groundwater in this region has high iron content. Im- rental and caste controls over daughters.
plementation of this scheme would benefit over
7000 population of Sabroom town. In most of these cases, a couple elopes fearing op-
position from parents resulting in a situation where
  families approach the police, who then book the boy
for rape under POCSO and abduction with the intent
to marry under IPC or the Prohibition of Child Mar-
riages Act.

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Supreme Court Rulings:
In 2014, in National Legal Services Authority of
India v Union of India, the Supreme Court while
recognizing transgenders as the third gender said
that justice is delivered with the “assumption that
humans have equal value and should, therefore,
be treated as equal, as well as by equal laws.”
In 2019, in Joseph Shine v Union of India, the Su-
preme Court decriminalised adultery and said that
“a law that treats women differently based on gen-
der stereotypes is an affront to women’s dignity.”
Important Findings:
The study records that while girls face restrictions on
their mobility, premarital relations and sexuality, the
same was not true for boys of the same social milieu
who enjoyed greater freedom.
The study provides evidence of the misuse of POCSO,
which raised the age of consent from 16 to 18 years
and this would result in adolescents being wrongfully
targeted for consensual sexual relationship and deter
girls from seeking safe abortion.
The study also assumes significance when the gov-
ernment has been discussing amending the PCMA
to declare all child marriages null and void ab ini-
tio, while in its current form the law only permits
one of the consenting parties to seek annulment of
their marriage as children until two years after they
turn adults (in case of minors, their parents can seek
annulment).
The study calls for a need to examine coercion based
on power, age and the nature of the relationship
between the parties before treating a marriage be-
tween young couples as a case of child marriage.
Ayodhya verdict 
Context:
A Constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India
Ranjan Gogoi has delivered the Ayodhya verdict on
the disputed land in Ayodhya.
The verdict:
Temple on disputed site and Alternative land for
mosque. The Supreme Court granted the entire dis-
puted land in Ayodhya for temple construction. SC
directed Centre and UP Government to allot 5 acres
13
CSB IAS ACADEMY
of land to Muslims at a prominent place in Ayodhya
for building a mosque.
A trust to be set up:
SC directed Centre to formulate a scheme for form-
ing a trust within 3 months for construction of a tem-
ple at the site. The land must be handed over to the
trust. Till the Trust is formed, the ownership of the
site will rest with the Centre.
 What is Article 142, invoked by SC to give land
for a mosque?
The Supreme Court, implicitly referring to the dem-
olition of the Babri Masjid at the disputed site, said
that it was invoking Article 142 “to ensure that a
wrong committed must be remedied”.
Article 142(1) states that “The Supreme Court in
the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such de-
cree or make such order as is necessary for doing
complete justice in any cause or matter pending
before it, and any decree so passed or order so
made shall be enforceable throughout the territo-
ry of India in such manner as may be prescribed
by or under any law made by Parliament and, until
provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner
as the President may by order prescribe”.
Who are the travellers quoted in Ayodhya
judgment?
The travelogues that the court took note of includ-
ed were the European travellers Joseph Tieffen-
thaler, William Finch, and Montgomery Martin.
Tieffenthaler was an 18th-century missionary
who travelled in India for 27 years, and wrote his
travelogue titled “Description Historique et Geo-
graphique De l’Inde”.
 In India, he was commissioned at the famous
observatory of Sawai Jai Singh, the Raja of Jaipur,
and was later attached at the Jesuit College in Agra
which was built with the patronage of Akbar. 
William Finch’s account has been recorded in the
1921 book ‘Early Travels in India (1583-1619)’ by
the historiographer Sir William Foster.
Originally from Dublin in Ireland, Martin was an
Anglo-Irish author and civil servant. He practised
medicine in Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka), East
Africa and Australia. Martin then went on to work
in Kolkata where helped found the paper ‘Bengal
Herald’. He wrote the three-volume work ‘History,
Antiquities, Topography and Statistics of Eastern
India’. 
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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019 CSB IAS ACADEMY
ASI had not established whether temple was demol- identified by a unique six-digit code that has num-
ished bers arranged in a legal and logical structure, with
well-defined rules to achieve uniform classification.
The fact that there lied a structure beneath the de-
stroyed structure has been established by the ASI and Of the six digits, the first two denote the HS Chapter,
ASI had not established whether temple was demol- the next two give the HS heading, and the last two
ished to build the mosque where Supreme Court said give the HS subheading. The HS code for pineapple,
that terming the archaeological evidence as merely for example, is 0804.30, which means it belongs to
an opinion would be a great disservice to the ASI. Chapter 08 (Edible fruit & nuts, peel of citrus/ mel-
ons), Heading 04 (Dates, figs, pineapples, avocados,
Places of Worship Act etc. fresh or dried), and Subheading 30 (Pineapples).
The Supreme Court refers to Places of Worship (Spe-
cial Provisions) Act, which prohibits conversion of any
place of worship, to say that all religions are equal.

At the heart of the Constitution is the commitment to

equality. Constitution does not distinguish between
one faith and another.
 
Harmonised System (HS) code for
Khadi.
Context:
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has allo-
cated a separate Harmonised System (HS) code for
Khadi which is India’s signature handspun and hand-
woven cloth that was made iconic by Mahatma
Gandhi during the freedom struggle.
Description:
 Need for and significance:
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterpris-
es (MSME) declard that Khadi has once again come The move is expected to boost Khadi exports in the
out of its customary veil, marking its presence in the coming years. In 2006, the government had given the
exclusive HS code bracket, issued by the central gov- MSME-controlled Khadi and Village Industries Com-
ernment to categorise its products in export. mission (KVIC) the Export Promotion Council Status
(EPCS) and the absence of a separate HS code hin-
What does the HS code mean? dered Khadi from achieving its full potential, as its ex-
The Harmonised System, or simply ‘HS’, is a six-digit ports were difficult to categorise and calculate. The
identification code developed by the World Customs latest move is expected to help resolve this issue.
Organization (WCO) called the “universal economic
language” for goods, it is a multipurpose internation-
al product nomenclature. Pardoning powers of President
Over 200 countries use the system as a basis for their Context: 
customs tariffs, gathering international trade statis-
tics, making trade policies, and for monitoring goods.Recently, the President of India has decided to com-
mute the death sentence of an accused (convicted
The system helps in harmonising of customs and over the assassination of then Punjab Chief Minister)
trade procedures, thus reducing costs in internation- as a humanitarian gesture ahead of the 550th birth
al trade. anniversary celebrations of the founder of Sikhism,
Guru Nanak Dev Ji on this basis the Ministry of Home
According to the WCO website, the system currently Affairs (MHA) has sent a letter to the Punjab govern-
comprises of around 5,000 commodity groups, each ment.

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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019
Description:
Constitutional Provision to Grant Pardon:
Article 72
Article 72 of the Constitution empowers the Presi-
dent to grant pardons to persons who have been tried
and convicted of any offence in all cases where the:
Punishment or sentence for an offence against a
Union Law,
Punishment or sentence is by a court-martial (mil-
itary court), and
Punishment is a Death sentence. 
Pardoning powers of the President under article
72:
It says that the President shall have the power to
grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of
punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the
sentence of any person convicted of any offence.
Pardon: It removes both the sentence and the
conviction and completely absolves the convict
from all sentences, punishments, and disqualifica-
tions.
Commutation: It denotes the substitution of
one form of punishment with a lighter form of
punishment. For example, a death sentence may
be commuted to rigorous imprisonment.
Remission: It implies reducing the period of
the sentence without changing its character. For
example, a sentence of rigorous imprisonment
for five years may be remitted to rigorous
imprisonment for one year.
Respite: It denotes awarding a lesser sentence
in place of one originally awarded due to some
special fact, such as the physical disability of a
convict or the pregnancy of a woman offender.
Reprieve: It implies a stay of the execution of a
sentence (especially that of death) for a tempo-
rary period. Its purpose is to enable the convict to
have time to seek pardon or commutation from
the President.
The President can exercise these powers:
In all cases where the punishment or sentence is by making community.
a court martial;
In all cases where the punishment or sentence is for
CSB IAS ACADEMY
an offence against any law relating to a matter to
which the executive power of the Union extends;
In all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death.
Pardoning Powers of President And Governor
and difference between them
The scope of the pardoning power of the Presi-
dent under Article 72 is wider than the pardoning
power of the Governor under Article 161 which
differs in the following two ways:
The President can grant pardon in all cases where
the sentence given is the sentence of death but
the pardoning power of the Governor does not ex-
tend to death sentence cases.
The power of the President to grant pardon ex-
tends in cases where the punishment or sentence
is by a Court Martial but Article 161 does not
provide any such power to the Governor.
 
World Congress on Rural and Agri-
cultural Finance
Context:
The 6th World Congress is being jointly hosted by
Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association
(APRACA), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD) and Ministry of Agriculture
Farmers Welfare and Cooperation, Government of
India.
Description:
The Congress is co-organized in collaboration with
other global and regional associations like African
Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA)
and Near East–North Africa Regional Agricultural
Credit Association (NENARACA).
The theme of the event is ‘Rural and Agricultural
Finance: Critical Input to Achieve Inclusive and
Sustainable Development’.
The major aim is to bring member institutions and all
interested development sector partners together to
discuss the topics that define the future of the flow
of finance to the rural and agricultural sector and to
bring a powerful message to the worldwide policy-
It is expected that the 6th version of this global event
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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019
will be able to provide pathways to all stakehold-
ers for extending improved and efficient financial
services to rural and agricultural sector.
The congress will also aim to tackle in a multi-per-
spective setting on the opportunities, gaps and pri-
ority actions for developing sustainable and viable
financial services and investments with actionable
insights on rural financial services as a viable busi-
ness strategy and as a meaningful contribution to the
inclusive growth across the globe.  and not the reasons, holding that method of
Chief Justice of India’s office under
RTI Act  person.
Context:   The Judgement:
The Supreme Court has held that office of the Chief
Justice of India is a public authority under the trans-
parency law, the Right to Information Act.
Description:
Upholding the 2010 Delhi High Court verdict, the Su-
preme Court ruled that the office of the Chief Justice
of India was a public authority under the Right to In-
formation Act (RTI).
Also cautioned that RTI cannot be used as a tool of
surveillance, the CJI Ranjan Gogoi-led bench held
that judicial independence had to be kept in mind
while dealing with transparency.
16
CSB IAS ACADEMY
The Supreme Court’s Central Public Information Of-
ficer had appealed against a January 2010 ruling of
the Delhi High Court that held that the Supreme
Court and CJI are “public authorities” under the
Right to Information Act, 2005.
The Supreme Court said only names of judges
recommended by Collegium could be disclosed
appointment had an impact on the independence
of the judiciary.
The concept of judicial independence is not judge’s
personal privilege but responsibility cast on the
The Supreme Court is a “public authority” and the
office of the CJI is part and parcel of the institu-
tion. Hence, if the Supreme Court is a public authori-
ty, so is the office of the CJI.
The judiciary cannot function in total insulation as
judges enjoy a constitutional post and discharge pub-
lic duty.
However, Right to Privacy is an important aspect and
has to be balanced with transparency while deciding
to give out information from the office of the Chief
Justice of India and RTI cannot be used as a tool of
surveillance and that judicial independence has to be
kept in mind while dealing with transparency.
Sabarimala Temple Case
 Context:
A five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan
Gogoi Thursday referred the petitions seeking review
of its previous judgment in the Sabarimala case to
a larger bench by 3:2 majority. In its September 2018
ruling, the apex court had lifted a ban on menstru-
ating women from entering the Sabarimala temple.
Description:
The Supreme Court has referred to a 7 judge- bench a
clutch of review petitions challenging its Septem-
ber 2018 verdict allowing entry of women of all age
groups into the Sabarimala temple.
The restriction of women into religious places is not
limited to Sabarimala temple and said a seven-judge
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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019 CSB IAS ACADEMY
bench will decide all such religious issues relating to
the temple, entry of women in mosques and practice
of female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra
community.

Both sections of the same religious group have a

right to freely profess, practise and propagate their
religious beliefs as being integral part of their religion
by virtue of Article 25 of the Constitution of India.
Questions which needs to be answered:
What is the “permissible extent” of judicial recog-
nition a court should give to PILs filed by people
who do not belong to the religion of which practic-
es are under the scanner?

Should “essential religious practices” be afforded

constitutional protection under Article 26 (free-
dom to manage religious affairs)?

Whether a court can probe if a practice is essential

to a religion or should the question be left to the
respective religious head?
Preventing women’s entry to the temple is
discriminatory
 In any civilised society, gender equality is to be
treated as one of the core values. Preventing women’s
entry to the Sabarimala temple with an irrational and
obsolete notion of “purity” clearly offends the equal-
ity clauses in the Constitution. 

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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019 CSB IAS ACADEMY
The classification based on age is an act of discrimi- Provisions:
nation based on sex.
Article 129 Grants Supreme Court the power to
Prohibition of women’s entry to the shrine solely on punish for contempt of itself and Article 215 Grants
the basis of womanhood and the biological features every High Court the power to punish for contempt
associated with womanhood is derogatory to wom- of itself. Where as Article 142(2) Enables the Su-
en, which Article 51A (e) aims to renounce. preme Court to investigate and punish any person
for its contempt.
It denotes a patriarchal and partisan approach.
 The Contempt of Courts Act of 1971 is one of the
The entry prohibition takes away the woman’s most powerful statutes in the country. It gives the
right against discrimination guaranteed under Article constitutional courts wide powers to restrict an
15(1) of the Constitution. individual’s fundamental right to personal liberty for
It curtails her religious freedom assured by Article “scandalising the court” or for “wilful disobedience”
25(1). of any judgment, writ, direction or order.

The entry prohibition takes away the woman’s In India, the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, divides
right against discrimination guaranteed under Article contempt into civil contempt and criminal contempt.
15(1) of the Constitution. The Civil contempt is a ‘wilful disobedience to any
judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or other pro-
  cesses of a Court or wilful breach of an undertaking
given to the court and Criminal contempt is ‘the pub-
lication (whether by words, spoken or written, or by
signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise) of
 Contempt of Court any matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever.
Context:
The 1971 Act contains “adequate safeguards to ex-
The Supreme Court has held former Ranbaxy pro- clude instances which may not amount to criminal
moters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh guilty of con- contempt” as defined under Section 2(c) of the Act
tempt for violating its order that had asked them not 1971.
to divest their shares in Fortis Healthcare Limited.
The Law Commission said the statute has stood the
 Description: test of judicial scrutiny for about five decades and
empowers the High Court to act if someone is in
Judiciary ensures justice and equality to every indi- contempt of the subordinate courts. Diluting the Act
vidual and institutions, therefore, the makers of the would expose the subordinate judiciary to acts of
constitution upheld the sanctity and prestige of the contempt of court.  
revered institution by placing provisions under arti-
cles 129 and 215 of the constitution, which enables
the courts to hold individuals in contempt if they at-
tempt to demean or belittle their authority.
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 
 Context:
Contempt of Courts (Amendment) Act, 2006:
The Bill seeks to amend The Citizenship Act, 1955 to
The statute of 1971 has been amended by the Con-
make Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian
tempt of Courts (Amendment) Act, 2006 to include
illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and
the defence of truth under Section 13 of the original
Pakistan, eligible for citizenship of India.
legislation.
In other words, the Bill intends to make it easier
Section 13 that already served to restrict the powers
for non-Muslim immigrants from India’s three Mus-
of the court in that they were not to hold anyone in
lim-majority neighbours to become citizens of India.
contempt unless it would substantially interfere with
the due process of justice, the amendment further Description:
states that the court must permit ‘justification by
truth as a valid defence if it is satisfied that it is in Under The Citizenship Act, 1955, one of the require-
public interest and the request for invoking the said ments for citizenship by naturalisation is that the ap-
defence is bona fide.’ plicant must have resided in India during the last 12

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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019 CSB IAS ACADEMY
months, as well as for 11 of the previous 14 years.

The amendment relaxes the second requirement

from 11 years to 6 years as a specific condition for
applicants belonging to these six religions, and the
aforementioned three countries.

Under The Citizenship Act, 1955, a person who is

born in India, or has Indian parentage, or has resided
in India over a specified period of time, is eligible for
Indian citizenship.
NE indigenous people:
Manipur wants the Inner-line Permit System to
stop outsiders from entering the state.

Mizoram fears Buddhist Chakmas and Hindu Ha-

jongs from Bangladesh may take advantage of the
Act.

Groups in Arunachal Pradesh fear the new rules

may benefit Chakmas and Tibetans.

The Bill has not been sitting well with the Assamese
as it contradicts the Assam Accord of 1985, which
clearly states that illegal migrants heading in from
Bangladesh after March 1971, would be deported.
Meghalaya and Nagaland are apprehensive of mi-  However, the bill is being criticised for the
grants of Bengali stock following reasons:
Illegal Migrants: It violates the basic tenets of the Constitution. Illegal
Illegal migrants cannot become Indian citizens. immigrants are distinguished on the basis of religion.

Under the Act, an illegal migrant is a foreigner who:
(i) enters the country without valid travel documents
like a passport and visa, or (ii) enters with valid doc-
uments, but stays beyond the permitted time period.
Illegal migrants may be put in jail or deported under
The Foreigners Act, 1946 and The Passport (Entry into
India) Act, 1920. In 2015 and 2016, the government
exempted specified groups of illegal migrants from
provisions of the 1946 and 1920 Acts. They were
Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians
from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who
reached India on or before December 31, 2014.
This meant that these particular categories of illegal
migrants would not be deported or jailed for being in
India without valid documents.
It is perceived to be a demographic threat to indige-
nous communities.
The Bill makes illegal migrants eligible for citizenship
on the basis of religion. This may violate Article 14 of
the Constitution which guarantees the right to equal-
ity.
It attempts to naturalise the citizenship of illegal im-
migrants in the region.
The Bill allows cancellation of OCI registration for vi-
olation of any law. This is a wide ground that may
cover a range of violations, including minor offences.
  

The Bill, however, does not extend to illegal Muslim

migrants. It also does not talk about other minority
communities in the three neighbouring countries,
such as Jews, Bahais etc.

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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019 CSB IAS ACADEMY
Mizoram revokes Forest Rights Act need to associate tribal people in the protection, re-
generation and development of forests.
Context: 
The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest
The Mizoram government has passed a resolution re- Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006,
voking the implementation of the Scheduled Tribes was enacted to protect the marginalised socio-eco-
and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of nomic class of citizens and balance the right to envi-
Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA). ronment with their right to life and livelihood.

 Description: About Forest Rights Act (FRA):

According to the 2017 State of Forest Report by the The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest
Forest Survey of India, around 20% of the total 5,641 Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is
square kilometres of the forest land in Mizoram is a result of the protracted struggle by the margin-
“Unclassed Forest” which is under Autonomous Dis- al and tribal communities of our country to assert
trict Councils. their rights over the forestland over which they
were traditionally dependent.
The area of unclassed forest is lowest in Mizoram,
among all North Eastern states. This also means This Act is crucial to the rights of millions of trib-
that the potential for FRA implementation is also the als and other forest dwellers in different parts of
highest in the state. our country as it provides for the restitution of de-
prived forest rights across India, including both in-
With a major portion of the geographical area of dividual rights to cultivated land in forestland and
states like Mizoram under forest cover, and commu- community rights over common property resourc-
nities having ownership on those lands, revoking FRA es.
can be seen as a means to keep the forest land with
the forest departments for later diversion. The act was passed in December 2006. It deals
with the rights of forest-dwelling communities
Under Article 371 (G) of the Constitution, Mizoram over land and other resources. The Act grants legal
has a special provision which makes it mandatory for recognition to the rights of traditional forest dwell-
all legislations of Parliament pertaining to land own- ing communities, partially correcting the injustice
ership and transfer to be first passed by the state’s caused by the forest laws.
assembly through a resolution before it can be imple-
mented in the state.   
The state government used this provision of the Con-
stitution to pass a resolution to revoke FRA from the
JallianwalaBagh National Memori-
state. The revocation is being seen as a misuse of Ar- al (Amendment) Bill, 2019
ticle 371 (G) by the state government.
Context:
Historical Background:
Parliament has passed the JallianwalaBagh Nation-
In the colonial era, the British diverted abundant al Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which seeks
forest wealth of the nation to meet their economic to amend JallianwalaBagh National Memorial Act,
needs. While procedure for settlement of rights was 1951 to change provisions related to composition of
provided under statutes such as the Indian Forest Trustees of memorial and termination of trustee.
Act, 1927, these were hardly followed.
Description:
As a result, tribal and forest-dwelling communities,
who had been living within the forests in harmony JallianwalaBagh National Memorial Act, 1951 provid-
with the environment and the ecosystem, continued ed for the erection of a National Memorial in mem-
to live inside the forests in tenurial insecurity, a situ- ory of those killed or wounded on 13 April , 1919, in
ation which continued even after independence as JallianwalaBagh, Amritsar. The 1951 Act also provided
they were marginalised. for a Trust to manage the National Memorial.

The symbiotic relationship between forests and for- Members:

est-dwelling communities found recognition in the The Trust as per the 1951 Act included the Prime
National Forest Policy, 1988. The policy called for the Minister, as Chairperson, (ii) the President of the In-

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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019 CSB IAS ACADEMY
dian National Congress, (iii) the Minister in-charge of Private member’s Bill
Culture, (iv) the Leader of Opposition in LokSabha,
(v) the Governor of Punjab, (vi) the Chief Minister of Context:
Punjab, and (vii) three eminent persons nominated
by the central government. 28 private member’s Bills introduced in LokSabha.
Measures to control the population and compulso-
 What is the main amendment made to the ry teaching of vedic education were issues raised by
Jallianwala Bagh Act? members through private member bills.
As per the provisions for trustees, the central govern-  Description:
ment nominates three trustees for five years. As per
the National Monuments Act, 1951, the trustees are Who is a Private Member?
supposed to be Congress heads.
A Member of the Parliament who is not a Minister
The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amend- (i.e. not a member of the Government) is regarded
ment) Bill, 2019 sought to make apolitical the trust as a Private Member.
that runs Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial by re-
A Bill introduced in either house of Parliament by
moving the clause pertaining to the President of In-
any such Member of Parliament is called a Private
dian National Congress as a permanent member of
Members’ Bill; Bills introduced by Ministers are
the trust.
called Government Bills. 
Why was the amendment made?
In India, usually, alternate Friday afternoons during
The Jalliawala Bagh massacre completed its 100th session time (generally between 2 pm and 6 pm)
anniversary this year, it was necessary to build a are reserved for discussions on Private Members’
Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial which would Bills. PMBs are drafted by MPs themselves, or their
be a National Memorial in true sense by removing offices, and are checked for legal consistency by
any party politics association with it. the Parliament Secretariat.

Now, trustees will be replaced after every five
years and relatives of the martyrs would also be
included in the trust.
Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amend-
ment) Bill: Main features to know
The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amend-
ment) Bill sought to amend the Jallianwala Bagh Me-
morial Act 1951
The President of the Indian National Congress no
more has to be a permanent member of the trust
The central government can now remove the trust-
ees of the Jallianwala Bagh memorial for any reason
even if they haven’t completed their term
The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amend-
ment) Bill says that only the leader of the largest op-
position party will be made a trustee; it says there is
no leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha
The procedure to introduce the bill
The Member must give at least a month’s notice be-
fore the Bill can be listed for introduction. The House
secretariat examines it for compliance with constitu-
tional provisions and rules on legislation before list-
ing.
 While government Bills can be introduced and dis-
cussed on any day, private member’s Bills can be in-
troduced and discussed only on Fridays. Other bills
introduced include those related to welfare mea-
sures for opium growers, the prohibition of indecent
advertisements and timely payment of dues to tea
garden workers.
Another bill sought to “confer right to play sports on
every child as enshrined in the United Nations Con-
vention on the Rights of the Child and for matters
connected therewith”.
There is also a Parliamentary Committee on Private
Members’ Bills and Resolutions which allots time to
different PMBs and goes through all of them (particu-
larly those seeking to amend the Constitution).

It also helps in classifying these Bills based on their

nature, urgency, and importance. This classification,
in turn, determines which of the introduced Bills are

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CURRENT BULLETIN-2019
discussed first.
Why Are Private Members’ Bills important?
PMBs were designed to empower MPs to bring at-
tention to issues that were willingly or unwillingly
ignored by the party at the helm.
In the past, MPs have used PMBs to put forward
important issues. For instance, in 1957, a noted
Indian freedom activist, politician and Parliamen-
tarian, introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to extend
financial support to women looking to fight cases
of bigamy against their husbands.
PMB on the rights of transgender people is another
great example. These Bills speak volumes of the
significance of PMBs in a democracy.
Various countries across the world effectively em-
power their Private Members and respect their ini-
tiative in the lawmaking process. For instance, in
the UK, since 1948, as many as 775 Private Mem-
bers’ Bills have received Royal Assent and the Ca-
nadian Parliament has passed 290 Private Mem-
bers’ Bills till date.
Constitution Day of India
Context:
CSB IAS ACADEMY
“Objectives Resolution” that was unanimously ad-
opted as the Preamble on January 22, 1947.
The Drafting Committee, chaired by Ambedkar, was
one among over 17 committees of the Constituent
Assembly, and was formed on August 29, 1947. Their
task was to prepare a Draft Constitution for India.
Out of some 7,600 amendments that were tabled,
the committee got rid of about 2,400 while debating
and deliberating on the Constitution. The last session
of the Constituent Assembly ended on November 26,
1949 when the Constitution was adopted.
It came into effect on January 26 the following year
after 284 members signed it. January 26 was chosen
since the Poorna Swaraj resolution of the Indian Na-
tional Congress was declared on this day in 1930.
Constituent Assembly
The Constituent Assembly, the body set up to draft
the Constitution of India, held its first session on
December 9, 1946, and was attended by 207 mem-
bers, including nine women.
Initially, the Assembly had 389 members; howev-
er, after Independence and Partition, its strength
was reduced to 299. The Assembly took over three
years to draft the Constitution, spending over 114
days considering the content of the draft alone.

On this day 70 years ago November 26, 1949 — the

Constituent Assembly of India adopted our Constitu-
tion. Since 2015, this day has been observed as the
Constitution Day of India, also known as Samvidhan
Divas.
Description:
In May 2015, the Union Cabinet announced that No-
vember 26 would be observed as Constitution Day
to promote “constitutional values amongst citizens”.

This was the year that marked the 125th birth anni-
versary of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the Chair-
man of the Drafting Committee of the Constitution.

On November 19, 2015, the government formally no-

tified November 26 as Constitution Day. Before this,
the day was observed as National Law Day. Ambed-
kar was also the first Law Minister of India.

Objectives Resolution:
On December 13, 1946, Jawaharlal Nehru moved the

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