2. The official name of India is Republic of India. New Delhi is the capital of India. The
Republic of India has three principal short names, in both official and popular English
usage, each of which is historically significant. These names are India, Bharat and
Hindustan.
It is the 17th largest country by area, the second largest country with population of 1.2
billion and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by Indian ocean on
the south, Arabian sea on the south-west, and the bay of Bengal on the south-east. It
shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, china, Bhutan and Nepal to the south-east.
In the Indian ocean India is in the vicinity of Sri lanka and Maldives.
India is the home of world religions- Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity,
Sikhism.
it became an independent nation in 1947 after struggle for independence that was
marked by non-violent resistance that was led by Mahatma Gandhi.
3. Federal system of India is governed in terms of the
constitution of India.
India is also referred to as the Sovereign, Secular,
Democratic and has a Parliamentary form of Government.
The nation is basically the union of 29 states and 7 Union
territories .
President is the head of the Executive union.
The Prime Minister is the head of the council of ministers.
The real political and social power resides in the hands of
the Prime Minister.
5. Parliament: In all democracies, an assembly of
elected representatives exercise supreme political
authority on behalf of people. In India such as such
as national assembly called Parliament.
Legislature: The body of elected representatives at
the state level is called Legislature or Legislative
assembly.
In India, the parliament consists of two houses-
Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha
(House of the people)
The president of India is a part of the parliament,
although he is not a member of either houses
6. Lok Sabha is also called the lower house of
parliament.
Members of the house is directly elected by
the people and exercises the real power.
The maximum strength of the house is 552.
out of these 530 members are elected from
the states and 20 members from the Union
Territories. Two members are nominated by
the president of India from the Anglo- Indian
community.
7. The present membership of Lok Sabha is 545.
This is the 16th Lok Sabha session
commenced on May, 2014.
Head of lok sabha-elected by the Mps
Current lok Sabah speakar-Mrs. Sumitra
Mahajan.
9. Rajya Sabha is also called the upper house of
parliament.
Is usually elected indirectly and performs some
special functions
The most common work for the second House is
to look after the interests of various states,
regions or federal units.
It has not more than 250 members
Twelve of Rajya Sabha members are nominated
by the president from persons who have earned
distinction in the field of literature, art, science
service.
10. Rajya Sabha is a permanent body.
One third of the members retire every two
years.
At present 245 members in Rajya Sabha,
distributed among different states and union
territories
The Vice President of India is the chairman of
House & current chairman is Mr. Mohammad
Hamid Ansari.
11. Executives who are elected by the people for a specific period
are called Political Executives.
The executive branch has sole authority & responsibility for
daily administration of state bureaucracy
The executive power is vested mainly in president of India
The president is act in accordance with advise tendered by
prime minister & his council of ministers
The council of ministers in office only so long as they
command the confidence of the majority members of the
parliament
Council of ministers is the collective decision making body of
Government of India
At present there are total 45 ministers in council of
ministers.
12. All the courts at different levels in the Country are
collectively called the Judiciary.
It is independent and powerful institution and is
considered essential for democracies.
The Indian Judiciary consists of a Supreme Court for
the entire nation, High Court in the States, District
Courts at local level
The judiciary in India is also one of the most powerful
in the World.
The Supreme Court of India comprises of the Chief
Justice and not more than 25 other Judges appointed by
the President.
13. Judges hold office till 65 years of age.
Present chief justice of supreme court is H.L. Dattu.
There are 24 High Courts in the country.
The Chief Justice of a High Court is appointed by the
President in consultation with the Chief Justice of
supreme court and the Governor of the state.
Each High Court has powers of superintendence over
all courts within its jurisdiction. High Court judges
retire at the age of 62.
14. Established on 25 jan.1950.
It’s main function is to hold
fair elections.
1st election was held on 1952.
17 crore 60 lakh people took part in which 85% are
illiterate and 15% are literate
Shiv Kumar sen was the 1st chief election
commissioner.
Mr. V.S. Sampath is the current chief election
commissioner.
814.5 million people were eligible to vote in this Lok
Sabha elections & average election turnout was
around 66.38%
15. As on 26th September 2014 there are total 1766
registered political parties in India according to
election commission of India .
At present there are 6 national parties , 54 state
parties & 1706 Unrecognized Parties.
If a party wins in 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha
from atlest 3 different State, it is considered as
national one.
Indian national Congress & Bharatiya Janata party
are two leading national parties.
Indian National congress ruled for around 48
years after independence.
16. After independence india face war with pakistan
in 1965,1971 &1999. and with china in 1962.
India face situation of emergency in 1975-1977
On 1991, PM Rajiv Gandhi was killed in bomb
attack by LTTE
Many scams & scandals faced by indian politics
like 2G scam, commonwealth games scam coal
gate scam etc.
Political activist Anna Hazare launched mass
campaigns to issue Jan Lokpal against
corruption.