General Knowledge & General Awareness Notes: Indian Polity

INDIAN POLITY

INDIAN CONSTITUTION
- Demand for a Constituent Assembly composed of the people of India officially asserted by the Congress for the first time in 1935.
- The election for Indian Constitution Assembly held in 1946 according to the Cabinet Mission Plan.
- The first session of the Assembly was held in New Delhi on December 9, 1946. Sachidanand Sinha was elected provisional chairman of the session.
- On December 11, 1946, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the Permanent Chairman of the Constituent Assembly.
- The Constitution was framed by the Constituent Assembly of India, set-up in December 1946, in accordance with the Cabinet Mission Plan, under the Chairmanship of Sachidanand Sinha, initially.
- The total membership of Constituent Assembly after partition was 299, among them 70 were representatives from the Indian states and others from British India.
- The Chairman of the Drafting Committee was Dr. BR Ambedkar, also called the Father of the Constitution.
- The Constituent Assembly took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to complete the Constitution.
- The Constitution, adopted on 8th November, 1949, contained 395 Articles and Schedules.
- The Constitution was delayed till 26th January because, in 1929, on this day Indian National Congress demanded Poorna Swaraj in Lahore Session under JL Nehru.
- Indian Constitution is a comprehensive document and it is the lengthiest written Constitution in the World.

THE PREAMBLE
- The 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 citizen:
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 to ourselves this constitution.'

Foreign Sources of Indian Constitution
Foreign - Subject - Sources
Britain Parliamentary system, collective responsibilities of Cabinet
America Fundamental right, Independent Judiciary, Judicial review
Canada Division of powers
Ireland Directive principles
Germany Emergency provisions
Russia Fundamental duties
Australia Concurrent list

IMPORTANT ARTICLES

PART - I UNION AND ITS TERRITORIES (ARTICLE 1 - 4)
- The Constitution says, 'India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States'.
- Parliament has the power to create any State, reduce it, change the name of boundaries of any State.

PART - II
CITIZENSHIP (ARTICLE 5 - 11)
- The Constitution provides for a single Citizenship.
- Indian Citizenship can be acquired:

1. by birth
2. by descent
3. by registration
4. by naturalisation
5. by incorporation of territory
 

- Indian Citizenship can be lost by:
1. renunciation;
2. termination — it takes place if a citizen of India voluntary acquires the citizenship of another country; and
3. deprivation — if the Government terminates the citizenship.

PART - III
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS (ARTICLE 12 - 35)
- Following fundamental rights are enjoyed by every Indian citizen, irrespective of caste, colour, creed and sex:
1. Right to Equality: No special privileges, no distinction on grounds of religion, caste, creed and sex.
2. Right to Freedom: The right to freedom of expression and speech, the right to choose one's own profession, the right to reside in any part of the Indian Union.
3. Right to Freedom to Religion: Except when it is in the interest of public order, morality, health or other conditions, everybody has the right to profess, practice and propagate his religion freely.
4. Cultural and Educational Rights: The Constitution provides that every community can run its own institutions to preserve its own culture and language.
5. Right against Exploitation: Traffic in human beings and forced labour and the employment of children under 14 years in factories or mines, are punishable offences.
6. Rights to Constitutional Remedies: When a citizen finds that any of his fundamental rights has been encroached upon, he can move the Supreme Court, which h as b een em po wered to safeguard the fundamental rights of a citizen (Article 32).

PART - IV
DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY (ARTICLE 36 - 51)
- Directive principles are not enforceable through courts.

Main aim of Directive principles is to provide social and economic base of a genuine democracy.

Some Important Directive Principles:
- Provisions for adequate means of livelihood for all citizens (Art. 39).
- Right to work (Art. 41).
- Right to human condition of work and maternity relief (Art. 42).
- Right to a living wage and condition of work ensuring decent standard of life of worker (Art. 43).
- Common Civil Code (Art. 44).
- Prohibit consumption of liquor (Art. 47).
- Prevent slaughter of useful cattle (Art. 48).
- Organise Panchayati Raj (Art. 40).
- Separate the judiciary from the executive (Art. 50).
- Protect and maintain places of historic monuments (Art. 49).
- International peace (Art. 51).

PART - IV A
FUNDAMENTAL DUTIES (ARTICLE 51A)
- The fundamental duties for the Indian citizens have been incorporated in the Constitution through the Constitution (42nd) Amendment Act, 1976. These duties are:
1. to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem;
2. to cherish and follow the noble deeds which inspired our national struggle for freedom;
3. to uphold and protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India;
4. to defend the country and render national service when called upon to do so' 5. to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people transcending religious, regional or sectional diversities and to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women' 6. to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture' 7. to protect and improve natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures' 8. to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform' 9. to safeguard public property and to abjure violence' 10. to strive towards excellence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement.
11. who is parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or, as the case may be, ward between age of six and fourteen years.

PART - V UNION (ARTICLE 52 - 151)

THE PRESIDENT
- The President is the Constitutional head of the Republic of India. He is more or less the titular head of the executive.
- He is the constitutional head but not the real executive. The real power is vested in the hands of the Council of Ministers.
- President is the first citizen of India.
- Qualifications: (i) Indian citizen, (ii) age not less than 35 years, (iii) should have qualification for election to Lok Sabha, (iv) should not hold any office of profit, (v) should not be a Member of Parliament or State Legislature.
- Election: Indirectly elected through Electoral College consisting of elected members of both the Houses of the Parliament and elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States.
- According to the 70th Amendment Act, 1992, the expression 'States' include the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry. Members of the Legislative Councils have no right to vote in the Presidential election.
- Powers: He makes appointments to all the constitutional posts.
- He can address either House of Parliament and dissolve Lok Sabha.
- All Bills passed by Parliament must receive his assent to become an Act.
- He issues ordinances when Parliament is not in session. No Money Bill can be introduced in Lok Sabha without his recommendation.
- He appoints 12 members of special repute in the Rajya Sabha.
- He has the power of Pardon to a criminal in special cases.
- The President holds the office for a period of five years. He is eligible for re-election.
- He draws a fix salary per month with various allowances.
- He is also entitled to rent free official residence called Rashtrapati Bhawan.

VICE-PRESIDENT
- Article 63 of the Constitution stipulates a Vice-President for India.
- The Vice-President acts as the ex-officio Chairman of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha).
- He is elected by an electoral college consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional represen-tation by means of the single trans-ferable vote. He must be a citizen of India, not less than 35 years of age, and should be eligible for election as a member of the Council of States.
- Disputes in connection with election of a president or a vice-president are to be a dealt with in accordance with Article-71. Such disputes shall be decided by the Supreme Court.

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
- The Constitution of India provides for a parliament system of government under which the President is only Constitutional ruler and the real power is exercised by the Council of Ministers, headed by the Prime Minister.
- Council of Ministers is composed of all Union Ministers— the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and Ministers of State.
- The Council of Ministers is Collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.
- The Prime Minister is a link between the President and the Council of Ministers.

PRIME MINISTER
- The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party in the Parliament.
- He is appointed by the President. Other Ministers are appointed by the president on his advice.
- The Prime Minister is the head of the Government and the head of the Council of Ministers.
- Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister and the longest serving so far. UNION LEGISLATURE
- The Legislature of the Union, which is called 'Parliament' consists of the President and the two Houses of Parliament known as the Council of states (Rajya Sabha) and the House of the People (Lok Sabha).

RAJYA SABHA
- The Rajya Sabha is the Upper House of the Parliament and it is constituted of representatives from the States or the Constituent units of the Indian Union.
- It is a permanent body, one third of its members retiring after every two years.
- Its maximum strength is 250. Out of these, twelve members are nominated by the President from well-known personalities in the realm of Science, Art, Literature and Social Service. Rest of 238 representatives of the States and Union Territories are elected.
- Currently, the strength of the Rajya Sabha is 245.

LOK SABHA
- The Lok Sabha whose life is five years, is the Lower House of Parliament and comprises of members directly elected by the people.
- The House of the people (Lok Sabha) at present consists of 543 directly elected members from the states and Union Territories.
- Two m em bers of Anglo-Indian Comm unity were nominated by the President, but by the 104th amendment of the constitution this provision have been abolished.
- The House of the People shall continue for five years (unless sooner dissolved) from the date of its meeting and no longer and the expiry of the said period of 5 years shall operate as dissolution of the House.

PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES
- There are several Parliamentary Committees to assist the Parliament in its deliberations.
- These are appointed or elected by the respective Houses of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on a motion made or are nominated by their presiding officers.
- Among the Standing Committees, three are financial Committees: (i) Public Account Committee; (ii) Estimate Committee; (iii) Public undertaking Committee.

SPEAKER OF LOK SABHA
- Speaker is elected by the Lok Sabha from among its members.
- The Speaker will have the final power to maintain order within the House of the People and to interpret its rules of procedure.
- A Deputy-Speaker is also elected to officiate in absence of the Speaker.
- G.V. Mavlankar was the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha (1952-1956).

SUPREME COURT
- The Constitution provides for the Supreme Court, which consists of Chief Justice and 33 judges. They are appointed by the President of India.

QUALIFICATION AND TENURE
- Eligibility conditions for a judge of the Supreme Court are that he must be : (i) a citizen of India; (ii) a judge of a high court for a minimum period of 5 years; or (iii) an advocate of a high court for at least ten years or a distinguished jurist.
- Judges hold office till the age of 65.
- They can resign earlier or can be removed by the President on the recommendation of the two Houses of the Parliament by 2/3rd majority of the members present and voting.

Powers
- Original jurisdiction: Cases involving Government of India and the states or cases involving the enforcement of Fundamental Rights fall under original jurisdiction.
- Appellate Jurisdiction: In cases which are brought to it in the form of appeals against the judgement of the lower courts—It hears appeals in civil and criminal cases.
- Advisory functions: The Supreme Court advises the President on the constitutionality of a particular legal matter. However, its advice is not binding on the President.

Other Powers:
1. it is a court of record and can punish for contempt of itself;
2. it can make rules for regulating the practice and procedure of courts with the approval of the President; and
3. it can recommend to the President the removal of chairman and members of the UPSC. Supreme Court enjoys the power of judicial review (right of the court which declares as unconstitutional, the laws passed by the legislature and orders issued by executive) though it is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution.
- The first Chief Justice of India was H.J. Kania (1950-51).

COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL (CAG) (ARTICLE 148-151)
- The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is guardian of the public purse.
- It is his duty to see that not a paisa is spent out of consolidated fund of India or of a state without the authority of the appropriate legislature.
- He is appointed by President of India.
- A person with long administrative experience and knowledge of accounts is appointed.
- Holds office for 6 yrs or till 65 yrs of age.
- Th e Presid ent can rem o ve h im o nly on the recommendation of the 2 houses of Parliament (as in case of judge of Supreme Court).
- The CAG submits its reports to the President (in case of accounts relating to the Union Government) or to the State Governors (for State Government Accounts).
- The first CAG of India was V Narahari Rao (1948-1954).
- The CAG is not eligible for further office under the Union or State Governments. The expenses of the office of the CAG is charged to the Consolidated Fund of India.

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF INDIA
- The Attorney General of India is the first law officer of the Government of India.
- Though he is not a member of cabinet he has the right to speak in the House of Parliament, but he has no right to vote.
- The Attorney General of India shall be appointed by the President and shall hold office during his pleasure.
- His duty shall be to give advice on such legal matter from time-to-time as may be referred to him by the President.
- To be appointed as Attorney General, a candidate must be qualified to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
- The Attorney General can participate in proceedings of the Parliament without the Right to Vote (Article 88).
- The first Attorney General of Independent India was MC Setalvad (1950-1963).

PART - VI
THE STATES (ARTICLE 152 - 237)
THE GOVERNOR
- The Governor is appointed by the President and holds office during the pleasure of the President.
- Apart from the power to appoint the council of ministers, if the governor finds that the government of state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the constitution (Art. 356), he may send his report to the President who may assume to himself the functions of the government of the state. (This is popularly known as 'President's Rule').
- Article 161 gives the Governor the power to grant pardons, reprieves, remission of punishment to persons convicted under the state law.
- Article 171 states that the States where Legislative Councils exists, the Governor can nominate some members from amongst those distinguished in literature, science, arts, cooperative movement and social service.

STATES LEGISLATURE (ARTICLE 168 - 212)
- The state legislature consists of Governor and legislative assembly.
- In some state like Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana have a legislative council.
- The membership of the council should not be more than one-third of the legislative assembly but not less than 40.
- The legislative assembly of each state shall be composed of members chosen by direct election on the basis of adult suffrage and the number of members shall not be more than 500 or less than 60.
- The assembly of Sikkim, Goa, Puducherry and Mizoram have less than 60 members.

HIGH COURTS (ARTICLE 214-232)
- The High Court stands at the apex of the State Judiciary.
- As per the Constitution, there shall be a High Court in each State. But there may be a common High Court for two or more States and Union Territory, if it is provided by a law of the Parliament. For example, the Chennai High Court has its Jurisdiction over the State of Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
- The State Government has no control over it.
- There are 25 High Courts in India.
- The Calcutta High Court, established in 1862, is the oldest High Court in India.

THE PANCHAYATS (ARTICLE 243-243 O)
- Panchayati Raj was introduced in India with a view to associate the people with administration at grass-root level.
- It is a three-tier system as recommended by Balwant Rai Mehta Committee.
- Introduced by the 73rd Amendment Act, 1992 which envisaged a three tier system of local governance.

These are:
1. Gram Panchayat at the village level
2. Panchayat Samiti at the block level
3. Zila Parishad at the district level.

Jurisdiction and Seat of High Courts
Name - Year - Territorial Jurisdiction - Seat

Allahabad 1866 Uttar Pradesh Prayagraj (Bench at Lucknow)
Bombay 1862 Maharashtra, Goa, Dadar Mumbai (Benches at Nagpur, and Nagar Haveli and Panaji and Aurangabad) Daman and Diu
Calcutta 1862 West Bengal and Andaman & Nicobar Kolkata (Circuit Bench at Port Blair)
Chhattisgarh 2000 Chhattisgarh Bilaspur
Delhi 1966 Delhi Delhi
Guwahati 1948 Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram Guwahati (Benches at Kohima, and Arunachal Pradesh Aizawl and Itanagar)
Gujarat 1960 Gujarat Ahmedabad
Himachal Pradesh 1971 Himachal Pradesh Shimla
Jammu & Kashmir and 1928 Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh Srinagar and Jammu Ladakh
Jharkhand 2000 Jharkhand Ranchi
Karnataka 1884 Karnataka Bengaluru (Circuit Benches at Dharwar and Gulbarga)
Kerala 1958 Kerala & Lakshadweep Ernakulam
Madhya Pradesh 1956 Madhya Pradesh Jabalpur (Benches at Gwalior and Indore)
Madras 1862 Tamil Nadu & Puducherry Chennai (Bench at Madurai)
Odisha 1948 Odisha Cuttack
Patna 1916 Bihar Patna
Punjab and Haryana 1966 Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh Chandigarh
Rajasthan 1949 Rajasthan Jodhpur (Bench at Jaipur)
Sikkim 1975 Sikkim Gangtok Uttarakhand 2000 Uttarakhand Nainital
Tripura 2013 Tripura Agartala
Meghalaya 2013 Meghalaya Shillong
Manipur 2013 Manipur Imphal
Telangana 2019 Telangana Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh 2019 Andhra Pradesh Amravati 

THE MUNICIPALITIES (ARTICLE 243 -243 ZG)
- Big cities have municipal corporations headed by the elected Mayor.
- For small towns there are elected boards or councils, in turn, elect their Presidents.
- Introduced by the 74th Amendment Act, 1993 which envisages three types of urban local bodies, namely, m u nicipality (nagar palika), city coun cil (nag ar panchayat).
- Municipal governance in India was first introduced in Madras in 1688.

PART - XIII (ARTICLE 301 - 307)
- In this part from Article 301-307 trade, commerce and intercourse within the territory of India are given.

PART - XIV (ARTICLE 308 - 323)
- In this part services under the union and the states are given.
- Article 312: All India Services and Article 315: Public Service Commissions for the Union and for the States.
- The first Public Service Commission was set up in 1926, on the recommendations of the Lee Commission. 

UNION PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION (UPSC)
- This Commission is responsible for:
1. recruitment to all civil services and posts, under the Union Government by written examinations, interviews and promotions, and
2. advising the Government on all matters relating to methods of recruitment, principles to be followed in making promotions and transfers. Its Chairman is appointed by the President.

STAFF SELECTION COMMISSION (SSC)
- The Union Government has constituted a Staff Selection Commission for recruitment to non-technical Class III posts in the central government and in subordinate offices.
- The Adm inistrative Refo rm s Com m ission h ad recommended the setting up of such a Commission.
- The Commission has also been entrusted with the responsibility of making recruitment to Group 'B' services like Assistants' and Stenographers Grade 'C'.
- The Commission has a chairman and two members.

ELECTIONS (ARTICLE 324-329)
- The Constitution provides for an independent election commission to ensure free and fair election to the Parliament, the State legislature and the offices of President and Vice-President.
- Consists of Chief Election Commissioner +2 Election Commissioners. They all enjoy equal powers.
- The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners are appointed by the President.
- Election Commissioners are appointed for a term of 5 yrs.
- They are not eligible for re-appointment. Also, they cannot hold any office of profit after their retirement.
- The Election Commission was established on 25th January, 1950 under Article 324 of the Constitution.
- The first Chief Election Commissioner was Sukumar Sen. Functions
- Preparation of electoral rolls and keeping voters list updated.
- Recognition of various political parties and allotment of election symbols.

NITI AAYOG
- The Indian government has replaced Planing Commission with a new institution named NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India).
- The Niti Aayog will comprise the following:
1. Prime Minister of India as the Chairperson.
2. Governing Council comprising the Chief Ministers of all the States and Lt. Governors of Territories.
3. Regional Councils will be formed to address specific issues and contingencies impacting more than one state or a region. These will be formed for a specified tenure. The Regional Councils will be convened by the Prime Minister and will comprise of the Chief Ministers of States and Lt. Governors of Territories in the region. These will be chaired by the Chairperson of the NITI Aayog or his nominee.
4. Experts, specialists and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge as special invitees nominated by the Prime Minister.
- The full-time organizational framework will comprise of, in addition to the Prime Minister as the Chairperson:
1. Vice-Chairperson : To be appointed by the Prime Minister.
2. Members : Full-time. : 3
3. Part-time members : Maximum of 2 from leading universities research organizations and other relevant institutions in an ex-officio capacity. Part time members will be on a rotational basis.
4. Ex Officio members : Maximum of 4 members of the Council of Ministers to be nominated by the Prime Minister.
5. Chief Executive Officer : To be appointed by the Prime Minister for a fixed tenure, in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
6. Secretariat as deemed necessary.

Important Amendments to the Constitution
First Amendment, 1951 : Added Ninth Schedule.
Twenty-second Amendment, 1969 : Formation of Meghalaya within the state of Assam was facilitated.
Twenty-sixth Amendment, 1971 : The privy and privileges of the former rulers of Indian States were abolished.
Thirty-first Amendment, 1973 : The upper limit of representation of states was raised from 500 to 525. The upper limit for representation of the UTs was reduced from 25 to 20.
Thirty-sixth Amendment, 1975 : Sikkim was made a full-fledged state of Indian Union and it was included in the First Schedule.
Thirty-eight Amendment, 1975 : This act led to the amendment of Article 123, Article 213 and Article 352 which stated that the satisfaction of President or of Governor contained in these Articles would be called in question in any court of law.
Forty-second Amendment, 1976 : This amendment was done in accordance with the recommendations of Swaran Singh Committee and included a number of amendments.
Forty-third Amendment, 1977 : It provided for the restoration of the Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and High
Courts, curtailed by the enactment of the Constitution (Forty-Second Amendment) Act, 1976.
Forty-fourth Amendment, 1978 : The right to property was deleted as Fundamental Right and was made a legal right.
Fifty-third Amendment, 1986 : The Act grants statehood to the Union Territory of Mizoram, thus making it the 23rd State of the Indian Unions.
Fifty-sixth Amendment, 1987 : The UT of Goa converted into Goa state through this amendment whereas Daman and Diu were organised under a new UT.
Seventy-third Amendment, 1992 : It is concerning Panchayati Raj.
Seventy-fourth Amendment, 1992 : It is regarding Municipal Boards and Corporations.
Eighty-ninth Amendment, 2003 : It provides for constitution of a separate National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. (Earlier, there was a combined National Commission for both SC/STs).
Ninety-first Amendment, 2003 : It is regarding restricting the total number of Ministers including Prime Minister/Chief Minister in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures to 15% of the total number of the Union or State Legislatures.
Ninety-sixth Amendment, 2011 : Amendment of 8th Schedule, it replaces 'Orissa' with 'Odisha'.
Ninety-eight Amendment, 2013 : (Insert Article 371 J) To empower the Governor of Karnataka to take steps to develop Hydrabad Karnataka Region.
Ninety-ninth Amendment, 2015 : The amendment is in toto quashed by Supreme Court on 16 October, 2015.
One hundredth Amendment, 2015 : Exchange of certain enclave territories with Bangladesh and conferment of citizenship rights to residents of enclaves consequent to signing of Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) Treaty between India and Bangladesh.
One hundredth and first Amendment: The act amends the Constitution to introduce 'The Goods and Amendment, 2016 Services Tax (GST).'
One hundredth and Third Amendment, 2019: The Act providing 10 per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of General Category, came into effect on January 14, 2019.
One hundredth and Fourth Amendment: It extends the reservation of seats for members from SC and ST in Lok Sabha Amendment, 2019 and State Legislative Assemblies.

FINANCE COMMISSION
- The constitution of the Finance Commission is laid down in Art. 280.
- The chairman must be a person having experience in public affairs; and the other four members also having wide experience in financial matters.
- It consists of Chairman and 4 other members.
- It shall be the duty of the Finance Commission to advice the President on matters such as the distribution between the Union and States of the net proceeds of taxes that is required to be shared.
- The Finance Commission is not a permanent body. It is dissolved after it has submitted its recommendations.

NATIONAL SYMBOLS

NATIONAL EMBLEM
- State emblem of India is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. It was adopted by the Government of India on January 26, 1950. In the adapted form, only three lions are visible, the fourth being hidden from the view.
- The wheel (Dharma Chakra) appears in relief in the centre of the abacus with a bull on the right and a horse on the left.
- The bell-shaped lotus has been omitted. The words ''Satyameva Jayate'' meaning ''Truth alone triumphs'' are inscribed below the Emblem in Devanagari script.

NATIONAL FLAG
- The National Flag of India is a horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (Kesari), white and dark green in equal proportion.
- In the centre of the white band there is a wheel in navy blue colour. It has 24 spokes.
- The ratio of the length and the breadth of the flag is 3 : 2. Its design was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on July 22, 1947.

NATIONAL ANTHEM
- Rabindranath Tagore's song 'Jana-gana-mana' was adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on January 24, 1950.

Jana-gana-mana-adhinayaka jaya he,
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata
Punjab-Sindh-Gujarat-Maratha-
Dravida-Utkala-Banga
Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga Uchhala-jaladhi-taranga.
Tava subha name jage,
Tava subha asisa mange,
Gahe tava jaya gatha,
Jana-gana-mangala-dayak, jaya he Bharata bhagya vidhata,
Jaya he, jaya he, jaya he,
Jaya jaya jaya, jaya he.

NATIONAL SONG
- Bankim Chandra Chatterji's 'Vande Mataram' which was a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom, has been adopted as National Song. It has an equal status with the National Anthem.

Vande Mataram
Sujalam, suphalam, malayaja-shitalam,
Shasya shyamalam, Mataram
Shubhrajyotsna, pulkita yaminim,
Phulla kusumita drumadalashobhinim,
Subhasinim sumadhura—bhashinim,
Sukhadam, Varadam, Mataram.

- National Bird and Animal of India: Peacock and Tiger.
- National Aquatic Animal: Dolphin
- National Flower: Lotus
- National Calendar: It was adopted on March 22, 1957.<br>I. has 365 days in the year and the first month of the year is Chaitra.