Constitutional provisions, institutions and processes the news keeps testing. 558 concepts, each with its definition, key details and a timeline of every news story that touched it.
The current freeze on Lok Sabha seat allocation (not total count but state-wise allocation) is the product of two amendments:
Section 69A is the primary legal provision empowering the Indian government to order blocking of online content. Inserted into the IT Act by the Information...
India ranks 143rd globally in women's parliamentary representation (as of 2024). Women constitute approximately 14.4% of the 18th Lok Sabha (78 out of 543...
Anti-conversion laws in India (often called 'Freedom of Religion Acts') have existed at the state level since the 1960s. Odisha was the first state to enact...
AFSPA empowers security forces operating in 'disturbed areas' to use force, arrest without warrant, enter and search premises, and enjoy legal immunity for...
Article 124 of the Constitution, 1950, establishes the Supreme Court and creates a flexible architecture for its composition. Rather than fixing the number...
Article 22 of the Constitution provides safeguards for persons arrested or detained. Clause (1) and (2) guarantee the right to be informed of grounds of...
Article 26 grants every religious denomination — or any section thereof — the right to (a) establish and maintain institutions for religious and charitable...
Article 32 of the Constitution grants every person the right to move the Supreme Court for enforcement of fundamental rights guaranteed under Part III. It...
Article 326 of the Constitution of India guarantees that elections to the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies shall be on the basis of adult...
The population census in India is conducted under the provisions of the Census Act, 1948, and is a central government responsibility.
Centrally Sponsored Schemes operate on a shared funding pattern between the Centre and States, typically in ratios such as 60:40 or 75:25 (90:10 for special...
The Citizenship Act, 1955 provides five ways to acquire Indian citizenship: by birth, by descent, by registration, by naturalization, and by incorporation...
The Census of India is a Union subject. Under Article 246 of the Constitution, read with Entry 69 of the Union List in the Seventh Schedule, Parliament has...
The Essential Religious Practices (ERP) doctrine, first articulated by the Supreme Court in the Shirur Mutt case (1954), holds that constitutional...
The Vice Presidency has evolved in political significance from a largely ceremonial office to one increasingly active in parliamentary management. Several...
The IT Rules 2021 regulate social media companies operating in India, classifying those with more than 50 lakh (5 million) registered users as Significant...
The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021) were framed under Section 87(2) of the IT...
The Indus Waters Treaty was signed on September 19, 1960, by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani President Ayub Khan, with the World Bank...
The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (enacted 28 September 2020) is one of four labour codes that consolidated 29 existing central labour laws. It subsumed...
The Meitei-Kuki-Zo ethnic conflict in Manipur, which began in May 2023, is one of the most serious internal security crises in India's Northeast since the...
The NFHS is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted under the aegis of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with technical support from the...
The National Security Act (NSA), 1980 is a central preventive detention law that empowers the government to detain a person without trial for up to 12...
PM Electric Drive Revolution in Innovative Vehicle Enhancement (PM E-DRIVE) is a centrally funded scheme approved by the Cabinet in September 2024 under the...
India does not currently have a uniform civil code at the national level. Personal laws — governing marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and succession...
The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, is a central legislation that prohibits conversion of any place of worship from one religion to...
In Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017), a nine-judge Constitution Bench unanimously declared the right to privacy a fundamental right under...
Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 empowers the Central Government to direct any agency of the government or any intermediary to block...
The Constitution's Seventh Schedule distributes legislative authority between Parliament and State Legislatures. Entry 34 of List II (State List) assigns...
India has no central anti-conversion law, though bills have been introduced in Parliament. Multiple states have enacted their own freedom of religion acts...
The Tenth Schedule was inserted into the Constitution by the 52nd Amendment Act, 1985, to curb political defection by legislators for personal gain and to...
India's agricultural subsidies and support programmes operate within the framework of the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), which...
AgriStack is India's agricultural Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), modeled on the India Stack concept (Aadhaar-based identity, UPI for payments...
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces to maintain public order in 'disturbed areas' in India's...
Launched on 23 September 2018, AB-PMJAY is the world's largest government-funded health assurance scheme. It provides cashless health coverage of up to Rs 5...
Bharatmala Pariyojana is a centrally sponsored umbrella programme for highway development approved by the Government of India in October 2017. Implemented...
The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was established in 1960 under the Ministry of Defence to develop and maintain road infrastructure in border areas and...
Census-2027 will include caste enumeration — counting the population by caste — for the first time since 1931. Caste data in the census has been debated...
Delimitation refers to the process of redrawing boundaries of electoral constituencies based on the latest census data. The Constitution (84th Amendment)...
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) amends the Citizenship Act, 1955, to provide a pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities...
The CAG is India's supreme audit institution, established under Article 148 of the Constitution. The CAG is appointed by the President and serves a single...
Constitutional amendments in India are governed by Article 368. Different types of amendments require different majorities: (a) a simple majority (more than...
Conducting a population census is a Union subject under Entry 69 of the Union List (Seventh Schedule), which Parliament legislates on using its exclusive...
India's federal structure is described as 'quasi-federal with a unitary bias' — the Constitution assigns residual powers to the Centre (unlike the US, where...
India's defence procurement framework has evolved through multiple iterations. The Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) was first formalised in 2002...
India has pursued a strategy of building shared, interoperable Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) — open platforms available to all citizens, governments...
The Disaster Management Act, 2005 (DM Act) is the primary legislative framework for disaster management in India. It defines 'disaster' and establishes the...
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement agency under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance. It enforces two laws: the Prevention of...
The FRBM Act, 2003, mandates that the central government and states maintain fiscal discipline by capping fiscal deficits and eliminating revenue deficits...
The Indian Constitution guarantees freedom of religion as a fundamental right under Articles 25-28, but this right is not absolute — it is subject to public...
Habeas corpus (Latin: 'you may have the body') is a writ commanding a custodian to produce the detained person before a court and justify the detention....
The demand for one-third reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies dates back to the 1990s. The Constitution (81st Amendment) Bill, 1996 was...
LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) — a mixture of propane and butane — is India's primary cooking fuel, reaching approximately 320 million household connections...
IRDAI is the statutory body established under the IRDAI Act, 1999 to regulate and promote the insurance industry in India. It supervises both life and...
The Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils Act, 1997 established elected councils for Leh (functional since 1995) and Kargil (functional since 2003) to...
Before August 5, 2019, Ladakh was a division of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, which enjoyed special status under Article 370. The Jammu and Kashmir...
Under Article 107 of the Constitution, an ordinary Bill (other than a Money Bill) may originate in either House of Parliament. A Bill is introduced in the...
Limited Liability Partnerships are hybrid entities combining the flexibility of a partnership with the limited liability protection of a company. Introduced...
The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into force from the date of election schedule announcement. Under the MCC, the government (including state government...
The Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued by the ECI for political parties and governments once the election schedule is announced. It comes...