Indian Constitution 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. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

STATE Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Assam Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh

CAPITAL Hyderabad Itanagar Dispur Patna Raipur Panaji Gandhi Nagar Chandigarh Shimla

GOVERNOR Shri. E. S. L. Narasimhan General (Rtd.) J.J. Singh Janaki Ballav Pattanaik Sh. Devanand Konwar Shri Shekhar Dutt Shri B. V. Wanchoo Dr. Kamla Beniwal Shri Jagannath Pahadia Urmila Ben Patel

CHIEF MINISTER Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy Shri Nabam Tuki Shri Tarun Gogoi Shri Nitish Kumar Dr. Raman Singh Shri Manohar Parrikar Shri Narendra Modi Bhupinder Singh Hooda Prem Kumar Dhumal

10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28.

Jammu Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Orissa Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Tripura Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal

Srinagar and Jammu Ranchi Bangalore

Sh. N. N. Vohra Dr. Syed Ahmed Shri Hans Raj Bhardwaj

Omar Abdullah Arjun Munda Jagadish Shettar Oommen Chandy Shivraj Singh Chouhan Prithviraj Chavan Okram Ibobi Singh Mukul Sangma Shri Lal Thanhawla Neiphiu Rio Naveen Patnaik Shri Parkash Singh Badal Shri Ashok Gehlot Shri Pawan Chamling Jayalalithaa Jayaram Shri Manik Sarkar Shri Akhilesh Yadav Shri Vijay Bahuguna Mamta Banerjee

Thiruvananthapuram Shri Hans Raj Bhardwaj Bhopal Mumbai Imphal Shillong Aizawl Kohima Bhubaneshwar Chandigarh Jaipur Gangtok Chennai Agartala Lucknow Dehradun Kolkata Shri. Ram Naresh Yadav K. Sankara Narayanan Sh. Gurbachan Jagat Sh. Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary Shri Vakkom Purushothaman Shri Nikhil Kumar Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare Shri Shivraj V. Patil Smt. Margaret Alva Sh. Balmiki Prasad Singh Shri Thiru. K Rosaiah Dr. D Y Patil Shri B L Joshi Shri Aziz Qureshi Shri M. K Narayanan

CAPTIALS, LT. GOVERNORS ADMINISTRATORS AND CHIEF MINSITERS OF UNION TERRITORIE (As on May 6, 2011) S. No. 1. 2. 3. UNION TERRITORY Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chandigarh Dadar and Nagar Haveli CAPITAL Port Blair Chandigarh Silvassa Lt. GOVERNOR/ADMIN. Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Bhopinder Singh Shri Shivraj V. Patil Satya Gopal CHIEF MINISTER ______ ______ ______

4. 5. 6. 7.

Daman and Diu Delhi Lakshadeep Puducherry

Daman Delhi Kavaratti Puducherry

Satya Gopal Tajender Khanna Shri J K Dadu Shri Thiru Iqbal Singh

______ Smt. Sheila Dikshit ______ 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 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Name Jawahar Lal Nehru Gulzarilal Nanda Lal Bahadur Shastri Gulzarilal Nanda Indira Gandhi Morarji Desai Charan Singh Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi Vishwanath PratapSingh Chandra Shekhar P. V. Narasimha Rao Atal Bihari Vajpayee H. D. Deve Gowda Entered office 15-Aug-1947 27-May-1964 09-Jun-1964 11-Jan-1966 24-Jan-1966 24-Mar-1977 28-Jul-1979 14-Jan-1980 31-Oct-1984 02-Dec-1989 10-Nov-1990 Left office 27-May-1964 9 June 1964 * 11-Jan-1966 24 January 1966 * 24-Mar-1977 28-Jul-1979 14-Jan-1980 31-Oct-1984 02-Dec-1989 10-Nov-1990 21-Jun-1991 Date of Birth 14-Nov-1889 4 July 1898 02-Oct-1904 4-July-1898 19-Nov-1917 29-Feb-1996 23-Dec-1902 19-Nov-1917 20-Aug-1944 25-Jun-1931 01-Jul-1927 Date of Death 27-May-1964 15-Jan-1998 11-Jan-1966 15-Jan-1998 31-Oct-1984 10-Apr-1995 29-May-1987 31-Oct-1984 21-May-1991 27-Nov-2008 08-Jul-2007 Political party Indian NationalCongress Indian NationalCongress Indian NationalCongress Indian NationalCongress Indian NationalCongress Janata Party Janata Party Indian NationalCongress Indian National Congress(Indira) Janata Dal Samajwadi JanataParty Indian NationalCongress Bharatiya JanataParty Janata Dal

12

21-Jun-1991

16-May-1996

28-Jun-1921

23-Dec-2004

13 14

16-May-1996 01-Jun-1996

01-Jun-1996 21-Apr-1997

25-Dec-1924 18-May-1933

Alive Alive

15

Inder Kumar Gujral Atal Bihari Vajpayee Dr. Manmohan Singh

21-Apr-1997

19-Mar-1998

04-Dec-1919

Alive

Janata Dal Bharatiya JanataParty

16

19-Mar-1998

22-May-2004

25-Dec-1924

Alive

17

22-May-2004

Incumbent

26-Sep-1932

Alive