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.
Indian courts have progressively extended legal recognition to live-in relationships. In S. Khushboo v. Kanniammal (2010), the Supreme Court held that...
Microplastics are plastic particles smaller than 5 mm in diameter, while nanoplastics are smaller than 1 micrometre. They enter the food chain through...
An MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) is a non-binding agreement that establishes a framework for collaboration without creating enforceable legal...
The Supreme Court's April 2014 judgment in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India (NALSA) is the foundational constitutional basis for...
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Education, established in 1961 by...
The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) — NEET-UG — was introduced in 2013 by the Medical Council of India as a single national entrance...
NHAI is the statutory body responsible for the development, maintenance, and management of national highways in India. It was established under the National...
The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 gave constitutional status to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). It added Part IX (Articles 243 to 243O) to the...
Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule provides the principal exception to disqualification — the merger exception. Text of Paragraph 4 (simplified): A member is...
Courts in India have developed a substantial jurisprudence on judicial review of preventive detention orders. The key principle is that courts do not...
The Representation of the People Act (RoPA), 1950 governs the preparation of electoral rolls for Parliamentary and Assembly elections. The Central...
Section 47 of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 establishes the legal framework for distributing the RBI's annual profits. The RBI, unlike commercial...
Social audits are a form of participatory accountability where communities directly examine official records, bills, and muster rolls to detect fraud, ghost...
On August 1, 2024, a 7-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court delivered a 6:1 majority verdict in State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh (2024 INSC 562)...
TReDS is an electronic, RBI-regulated platform that allows MSMEs to convert unpaid invoices (receivables) owed by large buyers, including Central Public...
Union Territories (UTs) in India occupy a distinct constitutional category between states and centrally administered territories. Under the Seventh...
The Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand Act, 2024, was enacted by the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly and signed into law, making Uttarakhand the first state...
The Viksit Bharat — Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025 is structured around four pillars: (1) empowerment of rural households...
Vande Mataram was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and first published in the literary journal Bangadarshan on November 7, 1875. It was later...
Viksit Bharat (Developed India) 2047 is the government's vision to transform India into a developed nation by the centenary of independence. The NITI Aayog...
Under MGNREGA, Gram Panchayats were the primary implementing agency and planning unit, with shelf-of-works prepared annually. VB-G RAM G introduces the...
The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 — popularly called the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — was passed in a special session of Parliament in...
On September 28, 2018, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, by a 4:1 majority, held that the exclusion of women aged 10–50 from the...
The original 1985 law permitted a 'split' (para 3) whereby one-third of a legislative party's members could break away without facing disqualification. This...
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 (commonly called the Telangana Act) bifurcated Andhra Pradesh into two successor states — Telangana and the...
Article 164(1) of the Constitution provides that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor, and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the...
Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to freedom of speech and expression. This right extends to online speech, including...
Article 239AA was inserted by the Constitution (69th Amendment) Act, 1991 following the recommendations of the Balakrishnan Committee. It transformed Delhi...
Article 280 of the Constitution requires the President to constitute a Finance Commission every five years (or earlier if necessary), consisting of a...
The Chief Election Commissioner's removal is constitutionally protected under Article 324(5), which provides that the CEC 'shall not be removed from his...
Article 44 of the Indian Constitution, placed under Part IV (Directive Principles of State Policy), directs: 'The State shall endeavour to secure for the...
Article 80 of the Constitution specifies the composition of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) — India's upper house of Parliament. The Rajya Sabha is a...
Part III of the Constitution (Fundamental Rights) contains the equality provisions that govern reservation policy. Article 14 guarantees equality before law...
Deepfakes are a product of Generative AI (specifically Generative Adversarial Networks — GANs and diffusion models). Their governance raises questions about...
The legal journey towards recognising passive euthanasia in India began formally with Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug v. Union of India, decided by a two-judge...
The basic structure doctrine, established by the Supreme Court in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973), places substantive limits on Parliament's...
The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) are a group of seven uniformed law enforcement and paramilitary organisations under the Ministry of Home Affairs....
The Central Empowered Committee was constituted by the Supreme Court in 2002 (initially in Godavarman Thirumulkpad v. Union of India, the ongoing forest...
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), established under the PNGRB Act, 2006, is the statutory body that regulates the natural gas sector...
The collegium system is the mechanism by which Supreme Court judges are appointed and transferred — it is not derived from any explicit constitutional text...
Increasing sanctioned strength is only one part of the equation; appointments must follow through the Collegium system. The Supreme Court Collegium —...
The Committee of Creditors (CoC) under IBC is composed exclusively of financial creditors of the insolvent company. The CoC has decision-making authority...
CIBMS is India's existing technologically-integrated border surveillance initiative, first piloted along the International Border in Jammu in 2017-18. It...
The Bill proposes amendments to three constitutional provisions governing the Council of Ministers: Article 75 (Union Council of Ministers), Article 164...
The proposed Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026 amends Article 81 of the Constitution, which governs the composition of the Lok Sabha. Currently...
Delimitation refers to the process of redrawing the boundaries of parliamentary and assembly constituencies and fixing the number of seats reserved for...
EPFO is a statutory body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, governed by the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. It...
India's Ease of Doing Business (EODB) reforms have been a central pillar of governance since 2014, driven by the objective of improving India's ranking in...
An Eco-Sensitive Area is a regulatory buffer notified by the Central Government to restrict specified industrial and developmental activities in...
The Electricity Act, 2003 is the primary legislation governing the electricity sector in India. It unified and replaced three earlier laws — the Indian...
The Essential Religious Practices test is a judicially evolved doctrine used to determine whether a particular practice is integral to a religion — and thus...
Violence erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023, triggered by protests by Kuki-Zo tribes against a High Court recommendation to extend Scheduled Tribe (ST)...
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach that makes manufacturers, importers, and brand owners financially and physically responsible for...
The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003 was India's first statutory framework for fiscal discipline, mandating progressive...
The FRP is the minimum price that sugar mills are legally required to pay farmers for sugarcane, irrespective of whether the mill makes a profit or loss. It...
Fast-track courts are special courts constituted by state governments in consultation with the High Courts to expedite specific categories of pending or...
The Constitution provides two distinct frameworks for tribal administration. The Fifth Schedule (Article 244(1)) applies to Scheduled Areas in mainland...
Fiscal federalism refers to the financial relationships between levels of government — the division of revenue and expenditure responsibilities between the...
A floor test is the constitutional mechanism by which a newly formed or challenged government demonstrates its majority on the floor of the Legislative...
India's Public Distribution System (PDS) under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 covers approximately 81.35 crore beneficiaries (two-thirds of the...