Polity, Constitution & International Organizations

International organisations and memberships

International organisations are classified by their membership, legal force of decisions and functional scope, and exam questions usually test these three features. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has 57 participating states from Europe, Central Asia and North America. It is a forum for political dialogue on early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation, and its approach to security is comprehensive rather than purely military. Its decisions are politically binding, not legally binding, because they depend on the consent and goodwill of states.

The Quad is an informal grouping of India, Australia, Japan and the United States, so France is not a member. Maritime security and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific is its central shared interest. In 2021 the members launched the Quad Vaccine Partnership to help supply COVID-19 vaccines in the region.

The United Nations has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. German is not among them.

The objectives of SAARC are set out in Article 1 of its Charter. They include promoting the welfare of the peoples of South Asia, improving their quality of life, promoting collective self-reliance, and contributing to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's problems. Ending cross-border terrorism is not stated as a Charter objective in Article 1.

The World Economic Forum organises the Annual Meeting of the New Champions, a gathering that sets its own theme each year, and it is distinct from the G7, G20 and WTO, which are intergovernmental bodies.

The G20 was formed in 1999 as a forum of finance ministers and central bank governors, and the Leaders' Summit was added only in 2008. Domestic bodies such as the Financial Stability and Development Council (constituted in 2010) and the National Logistics Policy (launched in 2022) are often asked in the same breath, so their dates should be memorised separately.

The chronology of regional organisations is a common test. ASEAN was established in 1967, SAARC in 1985, APEC in 1989 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in 2001.

The WTO replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as its successor on 1 January 1995. Inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verify safeguards at nuclear facilities in many countries. Amnesty International is a non-governmental organisation, not an intergovernmental one.

NHRC composition and term

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India was set up on 12 October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993. It is a statutory body, not a constitutional body, so its existence and powers depend on the Act passed by Parliament. The Act also provides for State Human Rights Commissions and Human Rights Courts.

The Chairperson and Members of the NHRC hold office for a term of 3 years or until they attain the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier. The age limit of 70 was introduced by the 2006 amendment to the Act. Candidates should therefore not be confused with the 5-year term and 65-year age limit that appear in other bodies' rules.

Parliamentary committees and motions

The Committee on Public Undertakings (COPU) examines the reports and accounts of public undertakings. It has 22 members, of which 15 come from the Lok Sabha and 7 from the Rajya Sabha, so the Lok Sabha has the larger share. The Chairperson is appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from among the members of the Committee.

A motion of censure may be moved against an individual Minister, a group of Ministers, or the entire Council of Ministers. A motion of no-confidence, under Article 75(3), is directed at the Council of Ministers collectively and cannot be moved against the Prime Minister alone. Statements that deny the censure motion against the whole Council are therefore incorrect.

Fundamental rights and landmark judgments

The Supreme Court in People's Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India (2004) held that voters have a right to know the background of election candidates. The Court derived this right to information from the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a).

Habeas corpus is a writ that the High Court or the Supreme Court can issue to produce a detained person before the court. In ADDL. District Magistrate, Jabalpur v. Shivakant Shukla (1976), the majority held that the right to move courts for habeas corpus stood suspended during the Emergency under Article 359. That decision was later overruled in K.S. Puttaswamy (2017). Other landmark cases such as Hussainara Khatoon (speedy trial), D.K. Basu (custodial violence) and Chameli Singh (shelter) address different rights and should be linked to their own subjects.

District judge appointment

Under Article 233, appointments, postings and promotions of district judges in a State are made by the Governor of that State. The Governor acts in consultation with the High Court exercising jurisdiction over the State. The President of India and the Supreme Court have no direct role in these appointments, and the Chief Justice of a High Court does not appoint district judges.

Swaran Singh Committee recommendations

The Swaran Singh Committee (1976) reviewed the Constitution and recommended the inclusion of Fundamental Duties for citizens. The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 gave effect to this recommendation by inserting Fundamental Duties in Part IVA as Article 51A. Provisions such as the doctrine of pleasure under Article 310, nomination of Anglo-Indian members under Article 331 and impeachment of the President under Article 61 already existed in the Constitution and were not recommendations of the committee.

Regional blocks and headquarters

Each regional bloc has a headquarters city that is commonly tested in matching questions. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is headquartered in Jakarta. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is headquartered in Minsk, and the European Union is based in Brussels. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has its headquarters in Vienna.

NATO membership

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance of Euro-Atlantic states. Turkey has been a member since 1952, and Hungary and Poland joined in 1999. Belarus is not a NATO member. It belongs instead to the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a grouping led by Russia. Distinguishing NATO from the CSTO is a standard point of confusion.

India–ASEAN and EU relations

India's engagement with ASEAN is organised through the India-ASEAN Summit, and the 15th ASEAN-India Summit was held in Singapore in 2018, not in 2022. Candidates should therefore check the venue and year of each summit as separate facts.

When the 27 member states of the European Union are counted together as a single trading bloc, the EU is treated as India's largest trading partner. This is a useful point for matching trade statements, but the figure reflects the bloc as a whole rather than any one country.

BIMSTEC membership

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) has seven members: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Countries such as the Maldives and Indonesia are not members, although they are neighbours of the Bay of Bengal region. Lists that omit Thailand or Myanmar, or add the Maldives, are therefore incorrect.

Governor's ordinance-making power

Under Article 213, the Governor of a State may promulgate an ordinance when the State Legislative Assembly is not in session. Such an ordinance must be laid before the Legislature and ceases to operate after six weeks from the reassembly of the Legislature. In D.C. Wadhwa v. State of Bihar (1987), the Supreme Court held that the Governor cannot repeatedly re-promulgate an ordinance without placing it before the Legislature, because this subverts the constitutional scheme.

By contrast, the power to grant pardons is governed by Article 161, and the emoluments of MLAs are fixed by the State Legislature, not the Governor. Keep these powers separate when answering questions on the Governor's functions.

Federal features of Indian Constitution

Indian federalism is characterised by a written Constitution that divides powers between the Union and the State Governments through the Union, State and Concurrent Lists in the Seventh Schedule. The Constitution also specifies the sources of revenue of each level of government. The judiciary, headed by the Supreme Court, interprets the Constitution and resolves disputes over the powers of different levels of government.

Separation of powers is an organisational principle that divides the functions among the legislature, executive and judiciary. It is not the defining basis of federalism, which concerns the division of power between the centre and the units. Candidates should therefore treat separation of powers as a feature of the government structure, not of federal design.

India's trade agreements (CEPA)

A Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is a bilateral trade agreement that goes beyond tariff reduction to cover trade in services, investment and related economic cooperation. India signed a CEPA with the United Arab Emirates in February 2022, and this is the agreement most often tested when a country is matched with a CEPA.

Sources of Indian law

The principal sources of law in India are the Constitution, which is the supreme law, statutes enacted by Parliament and State Legislatures, customary law, and case law. Customary law is recognised by courts only if it is ancient, certain, reasonable and continuous. Case law, or judicial precedent, is binding on lower courts, and a law declared by the Supreme Court is binding on all courts under Article 141. All four categories are therefore sources of law.