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Government bodies in India : 1) Constitutional body : • The body that is mentioned in the original constitution of India. It derives their powers and authorities from the Indian Constitution. • They are specifically mentioned in the Constitution, meaning they have dedicated articles. • Any change in the mechanism of these bodies would require a constitutional amendment. • Examples: Election commission (Art. 324), UPSC (Art.315 - 323), Finance commission (Art.280) etc. 2) Statutory body : • It's not mentioned in the original constitution of India. • It's created by an "Act of Parliament". • They are called 'statutory' since statutes are laws made by the Parliament (or) the legislature.[statute - a written law passed by a legislative body]. • These bodies derive their power from statutes or laws made by the Parliament, they are known as statutory bodies. • Examples : SEBI [through SEBI Act, 1992], NGT [through NGT Act, 2010], etc. 3) Executive body : • These bodies are non-constitutional and non-statutory. They are not mentioned in the Constitution & also not established by an act of Parliament. • They are formed by executive resolution or action, which means that they are formed by the government’s action only. • Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is not a constitutional body because it was established in 1963 by a resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs. • It's also called as Non-Constitutional bodies or Extra Constitutional bodies. • They can be converted into a statutory body by enacting a law. For example, the UIDAI was made into a statutory body after it was established by enacting a new law. • Examples : NITI Aayog, CBI, etc. 4) Regulatory body : • Regulatory bodies are public or government agencies responsible for exercising autonomous authority over some area of human activity in a regulatory or supervisory capacity. • Some regulatory bodies are independent, which means they are independent of any branch of the government. • They are set up to enforce safety and standards. • They have the charge of establishing norms of a particular area of human activity, and also supervising the bodies employed in that activity. • They are established by legislative acts. • Examples : RBI (Banking, monetary policy and finance), IRDAI (Insurance), etc. 5) Judicial body : • Judicial bodies are courts in India. Their chief objective is to provide justice by following the laws of the land. • Examples : Supreme Court of India, High courts. 6) Quasi-Judicial body : • A quasi-judicial body can be an individual or body with powers resembling a court of law. • They can adjudicate and decide penalties on the guilty. • They are different from judicial bodies its field is limited compared to a court. • They can be formed on a matter pending in court, by court order if the court considers it necessary; the court reserves the right to appoint members of such a body. • They can be tribunals for a specific domain, or like an arbitrator. • Judicial decisions may create new laws, but quasi-judicial decisions are based on existing law. • Examples : NGT, SEBI, NHRC, etc.

Parts of Indian Constitution :

💵Foreign Contribution Regulation Amendment Act, 2020 : • The Act states that foreign contribution must be received only in an account designated by the bank as FCRA account in such branches of the State Bank of India, New Delhi. No funds other than the foreign contribution should be received or deposited in this account. • Registered NGOs can receive foreign contribution for five purposes - social, educational, religious, economic and cultural. • An FCRA registration is mandatory for NGOs to receive foreign funds. • The act makes Aadhaar number mandatory for all office bearers, directors or key functionaries of a person receiving foreign contribution, as an identification document. • The act aims to enhance transparency and accountability in the receipt and utilisation of foreign contributions and facilitating the genuine non-governmental organisations or associations who are working for the welfare of society. • It prohibits the transfer of foreign contribution to any other person. • It bars public servants from receiving foreign contributions. Public servant includes any person who is in service or pay of the government, or remunerated by the government for the performance of any public duty. These include: election candidates, editor or publisher of a newspaper, judges, government servants, members of any legislature, and political parties, among others. • It proposes that not more than 20% of the total foreign funds received could be defrayed for administrative expenses. In FCRA 2010 the limit was 50%. • It allows the government to restrict usage of unutilised foreign contribution. This may be done if, based on an inquiry the government believes that such person has contravened provisions of the FCRA. • It allows the central government to permit a person to surrender their registration certificate. The government may do so if, post an inquiry, it is satisfied that such person has not violated any provisions of the FCRA 2010, and the management of its foreign contribution has been vested in an authority prescribed by the government • The annual inflow of foreign contribution has almost doubled between the years 2010 and 2019, but many recipients of foreign contribution have not utilised the same for the purpose for which they were registered or granted prior permission under the FCRA 2010. • Recently, the Union Home Ministry has suspended licenses of the six (NGOs) who were alleged to have used foreign contributions for religious conversion.

"Show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant" - The Holy Quran

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Financial Action Task Force (FATF) : • The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7. • Initially, it was established to examine and develop measures to combat money laundering. In October 2001, the FATF expanded its mandate to incorporate efforts to combat terrorist financing, in addition to money laundering. In April 2012, it added efforts to counter the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. • Its aim is to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system. • Headquarters - Paris. • The FATF Plenary is the decision making body of the FATF. It meets three times per year. • As of January 2021, there are 39 member countries in the FATF. India is a member of the organization since June 2010. It had earlier acquired ‘Observer’ status at FATF in 2006. • FATF has two lists: ✔Grey List : Countries that are considered safe haven for supporting terror funding and money laundering are put in the FATF grey list. This inclusion serves as a warning to the country that it may enter the blacklist. • If a country comes under Grey list, then it has to face the following consequences. They are Economic sanctions from IMF, World Bank, ADB, problem in getting loans from IMF, World Bank, ADB and other countries, Reduction in international trade, International boycott. • Grey listed countries - Pakistan, Morocco, Senegal etc. ✔Black List : Countries known as Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs) are put in the blacklist. These countries support terror funding and money laundering activities. • If a country comes under black list, then it may adversely impact its imports, exports, remittances and limit its access to international lending. The blacklisting may lead to institutions like the IMF, ADB being cautious while dealing with those countries. • Black listed countries - Iran & North Korea. • The FATF revises the blacklist regularly, adding or deleting entries.

Understanding Israel 🇮🇱 Palestine 🇵🇸CONFLICT- https://youtu.be/JTJUkn2tZaw

Understanding Israel 🇮🇱 Palestine 🇵🇸CONFLICT- https://youtu.be/JTJUkn2tZaw

📓Polity terms : • Summoning - Summoning is the process of calling all members of the Parliament to meet. It is the duty of Indian President to summon each House of the Parliament from time to time. The maximum gap between two sessions of Parliament cannot be more than six months. • Adjournment - An adjournment suspends the work in a sitting for a specified time, which may be hours, days or weeks. In this case, the time of reassembly is specified. An adjournment only terminates a sitting and not a session of the House. The power of adjournment lies with the presiding officer of the House. • Adjournment sine die - Adjournment sin die means terminating a sitting of Parliament for an indefinite period. In other words, when the House is adjourned without naming a day for reassembly, it is called adjournment sine die. The power of adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer of the House. • Prorogation - Prorogation means the termination of a session of the House by an order made by the President under article 85(2)(a) of the Constitution. Prorogation terminates both the sitting and session of the House. Usually, within a few days after the House is adjourned sine die by the presiding officer, the President issues a notification for the prorogation of the session. • Dissolution - A dissolution ends the very life of the existing House, and a new House is constituted after general elections are held. Rajya Sabha, being a permanent House, is not subject to dissolution. Only, the Lok Sabha is subjected to dissolution.

🏞 Major rivers in India.

📖Schedules of the Indian Constitution : • Indian Constitution has 12 schedules now. Originally, we had 8 schedules. Later, four more schedules were added by different amendments. • 1st schedule - The list of states and union territories and their territories. • 2nd schedule - Provisions relating to the allowances, salaries, privileges and so on of The President, Governors, Speaker, CAG etc. • 3rd schedule - The Forms of Oaths or Affirmations. • 4th schedule - Provisions as to the allocation of seats in the Council of States(Rajya sabha). • 5th schedule - Provisions as to the Administration and Control of Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes. • 6th schedule - Provisions as to the Administration of Tribal Areas in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. • 7th schedule - Division of powers between the Union & States (The Union list, State list and the concurrent list). • 8th schedule - The list of recognized languages(22 languages). • 9th schedule - Provisions as to the validation of certain Acts and Regulations.[This schedule was added by the 1st Amendment Act, 1951]. • 10 th schedule - Provisions as to disqualification on ground of defection.(Anti defection law).[This schedule was added by the 52nd Amendment Act, 1985]. • 11th schedule - The powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats.[This schedule was added by the 73rd Amendment Act, 1992]. • 12th schedule - The powers, authority and responsibilities of Municipalities.[ This schedule was added by the 74th Amendment Act, 1992].

💰Funds of Government of India : • There are three types of funds of the Central Government – Consolidated Fund of India (Article 266), Contingency Fund of India (Article 267) and Public Accounts of India (Article 266). ✔ Consolidated Fund of India : • The provision for this fund is given in Article 266(1) of the Constitution of India. • The fund gets money from revenue earned from direct & indirect taxes, debt repayments, loan recoveries, disinvestmemt receipts, dividends & profits from PSUs. • The government meets all its expenditure from this fund. • The government needs parliamentary approval to withdraw money from this fund. • Each state can have its own Consolidated Fund of the state with similar provisions. • The Comptroller and Auditor General of India audits these funds and reports to the relevant legislatures on their management. ✔ Contingency Fund of India : • The provision for this fund is given in Article 267(1) of the Constitution of India. • Its corpus is Rs. 500 crores. It is in the nature of an imprest (money maintained for a specific purpose. • The Secretary of Finance Ministry holds this fund on behalf of the President of India. • The contingency fund of the Union government is at the disposal of the President of India, who releases the funds on request of the Union Cabinet, which later gets an approval from Parliament. A Parliament approval is mandatory. • This fund is used to meet unexpected or unforeseen expenditure. • After the emergency has been dealt with, the fund is reimbursed to its full capacity of Rs 500 crore. This required money comes from the Consolidated Fund of India. • Each state can have its own contingency fund established under Article 267(2) ✔ Public Accounts of India : • This is constituted under Article 266(2) of the Constitution. • All other public money (other than those covered under the Consolidated Fund of India) received by or on behalf of the Indian Government are credited to this account/fund. • Examples of those are provident funds, small savings and so on. These funds do not belong to the government. They have to be paid back at some time to their rightful owners. Because of this nature of the fund, expenditures from it are not required to be approved by the Parliament. • The government does not need permission to take advances from this account. • Each state can have its own similar accounts. • The audit of all the expenditure from the Public Account of India is taken up by the CAG.

The Supreme Court struck down law for reservation to Maratha community About the judgement The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the provisions of a Maharashtra law providing reservation to the Maratha community. It rejected demands to revisit the verdict, or to refer it to a larger Bench for reconsideration. What the Supreme Court said The Bench said that "providing reservation for advancement of any socially and educationally backward class in public services is not the only means and method for improving the welfare of backward class" The 50% rule is to fulfill the objective of equality as engrafted in Article 14 of which Articles 15 and 16 are facets. To change the 50% limit is to have a society which is not founded on equality but based on caste rule. If the reservation goes above 50% limit, it will be a slippery slope, the political pressure, make it hardly to reduce the same. It added that "the Constitution (Eighty-first Amendment) Act, 2000 by which sub-clause (4B) was inserted in Article 16 makes it clear that ceiling of 50% "has now received constitutional recognition" The Supreme Court disapproved the findings of the Justice M G Gaikwad Commission on the basis of which Marathas were classified as a Socially and Educationally Backward Class. It said that "the data collected and tabled by the Commission as noted in the report clearly proves that Marathas are not socially and educationally backward class". The SC upheld 102nd Constitution amendment The SC also upheld the 102nd Constitution amendment, saying it does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution. The bench, by 3:2 majority, held that after the amendment, only the President will have the power to identify backward classes in a state or Union Territory. The amendment inserted Articles 338B and 342A in the Constitution. Article 338B deals with the structure, duties and powers of the National Commission for Backward Classes. Article 342A speaks about the power of the President to notify a class as Socially and Educationally Backward (SEBC) and the power of Parliament to alter the Central SEBC list. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

📰News : The top court struck down the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018 which extended reservation to the Maratha community in public education and employment. • The Supreme Court said that after the insertion of Article 342A in the Constitution, the Centre alone is empowered to identify Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC). • It emphasised that the Centre could include a community in a list, which is supposed to be published under Article 342A (1), specifying the SEBCs in each state and Union Territory. • The top court added that the states can, through their existing mechanisms, or even statutory commissions, only make suggestions to the President or the Backward Class Commission under Article 338B, for inclusion, exclusion or modification of castes or communities, in the list to be published under Article 342A (1). • 102nd Constitution Amendment Act inserted new Articles 338 B and 342 A. • Article 342A empowers "The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the socially and educationally backward classes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be socially and educationally backward classes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be." However, law enacted by Parliament will be required if list of backward classes is to be amended.

📰 Maratha quota unconstitutional, violates right to equality, says SC : ✔Article 14 - Equality before law & equal protection of law. ✔Article 21 - Protection of life & personal  liberty.  ✔What is due process of law? • Due Process of Law” is a doctrine that not only checks if there is a law to deprive the life and personal liberty of a person but also ensures that the law is made fair. ✔ Indira sawhney judgement (1992), in which the reservation limit was fixed at 50%. ✔ The SEBC Act provides for reservation of seats for admission in educational institutions in the state and for reservation of posts for appointments in public services and posts under the state. ✔ Maharashtra is one of the few states which have more than 50% reservation. Tamil Nadu, Haryana  & Telangana also exceed the reservation cap. ✔ The Supreme Court said that after the insertion of Article 342A in the Constitution, the Centre alone is empowered to identify Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC).

Place in news: Taiwan Part of: GS Prelims and GS – I – Geography & GS-II – International Relations In news India recently received assistance from Taiwan, including oxygen concentrators and cylinders, with more batches of medical equipment set to follow. Important value additions Taiwan is officially known as the Republic of China (ROC). It is a state in East Asia with China to its west, Japan to the north-east, and the Philippines to the south. The East China Sea lies to its north, the Philippine Sea to its east, the Luzon Strait directly to its south and the South China Sea to its southwest. The Taiwan Strait separates the island of Taiwan from mainland China. Taipei is the capital. Taiwan is no longer a member of the UN, having been replaced by China in 1971. Taiwan is claimed by China, which refuses diplomatic relations with countries that recognise the ROC. Taiwan maintains official ties with 14 out of 193 UN member states and the Holy See. The bilateral relations between India and Taiwan have improved since the 1990s despite both nations not maintaining official diplomatic relations. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom