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Habeas Corpus:

Habeas Corpus means ‘to have a body’. By issuing such a writ the court can require that a person be brought before it, to obtain knowledge of the reason why he has been detained and so set him free if there is no lawful justification for his detention.

Mandamus:

Mandamus means ‘we command’. It is a command which can be issued to any inferior court or to any public or quasi public authority which has refused to perform its legal duty. It is a highly prerogative writ of a most extensive remedial measure.

Certiorari:

It is a writ or order issued from a superior court calling upon the record of a proceeding in an inferior court for review or commanding it to certify the cause pending before it, to the end that justice may be done.

Quo Warranto:

Quo warranto means ‘by what authority’. It is a writ or order to any authority who occupies public office enquiring into the legality of the claim and to oust him from its enjoyment if the claim be not well founded.

Prohibition:

It is an order issued by a high court forbidding a local court from proceeding in a suit deemed to be beyond its jurisdiction. It is a remedy against the encroachment of jurisdiction.

International Thermonuclear Nuclear Reactor:

An ITER is a project in which E.U. is planning to seek Indian participation. This would be a shot in the arm to the Indian advancements in the FBR technology.

EU Galileo GPS:

EU Galileo GPS, a project of E.U., would contain a network of 30 satellites in all. This would be an alternative to US military run Navstar. E.U. is keen in India’s participation.

Windy 505:

It is the first vehicle designed by the EME of the Indian army to win a patent. It is a high mobility fast attack vehicle capable of moving in the deserts and rugged surface carrying surveillance equipment and armament.

South Asia Free Media Association:

The SAFMA is committed to a peaceful resolution of inter-state disputes in south Asia as enshrined in its Kathmandu declaration on “Peace & Media”. It recently held a conference in Lahore.

Armed Forces Special Powers Act:

Enacted in 1958, the Manipur govt. was forced to partially withdraw AFSPA following a prolonged agitation over the alleged rape & killing of Thangjem Manorama by the 17th Assam Rifles. St.Kitts forgery case:

St. Kitts forgery case was one of the three cases of corruption registered against P.V.Narasimha Rao. A special court recently acquitted Chandra Swamy , one of the key accused , due to lack of evidence.

Baby 81:

Baby Abilash who was separated from his parents when the Tsunami struck SriLanka was admitted as the 81st patient in the Kalmunai base hospital. After a dreaded legal battle and a DNA test he was united with his parents.

Fundamental Rights:

Part III of the Indian constitution guarantees certain fundamental rights to the Indian citizens. They provide that all the citizens shall be treated equally. They shall enjoy the right to freedom, right to life and freedom to preach & practice religion.

Fundamental Duties:-

Part 4A confers certain fundamental duties. Art. 51A was inserted into the constitution by the 42nd amendment in 1976. These duties cannot be enforced through constitution.

Untouchability:

Untouchability is an evil practice where in , a section of the society is kept away from the villages calling them untouchables . The social evil is a stigma on our society. Art 17 of the constitution abolishes untouchability and made its practice a punishable offence.

Cyber laws:

In the cyber age we live in, many business transactions are carried out by means E-Commerce. A variety of offences are committed on the internet. To take care of these developments the parliament has made some cyber laws . Information Act is one such.

Supreme Court:

The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal in India. It is established under Art 124 of the constitution. The law declared by the constitution becomes the law of the land binding all the courts in India. It consists of a Chief Justice and not more than 25 other judges.

Free Legal Aid:

In order to protect the poor citizens who are economically disabled , Art 39A makes provision for free legal aid for the poor citizens . It is the constitutional obligation of the state to ensure that the poor citizens are provided free legal aid so that they are not deprived of justice.

Freedom of press:

Press is regarded as the fourth pillar of democracy. A free press is a symbol of a healthy democracy. Freedom of press is impliedly derived from freedom of speech provided in Art 19 of the constitution. Though the state cannot this freedom, it can impose reasonable restrictions.

Uniform Civil Code:

Art 44 of the constitution says that the state shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India. In John Vallamotam case 2003, the SC held that the state should enact a uniform law for the whole of India irrespective of caste and creed.

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Public Interest Litigation:

It is a principle of law that, an individual can file a case either before the SC or the HC only if he or she feels aggrieved by an order or a judgment. This is on the principle of locus standi. In a PIL filed by M.C. Mehta, the SC has directed various courts to solve the problem of pollution.

Judicial Activism:

When the judges exercise an unconventional exercise or jurisdiction, it is now a days popularly called judicial activism. In the recent years the SC and HC have adopted a creative approach .For ex: the SC has treated even a letter as a writ petition and passed appropriate orders.

Lok Adalat:

Art 39A of the constitution provides that the state shall provide free legal aid to the poor. Lok adalats dispose off the cases through a process of arbitration, conciliation and settlement between the parties. The judgement of the LokAdalats cannot be appealed in any court.

Writ of Constitution:-

The constitution has conferred powers to the SC and HC to issue writs in the nature of mandamus, certiorari, habeascorpus, quo warranto and prohibition. Any person whose fundamental rights have been violated can approach SC & HC under Art 32 & 226 respectively.


Double Jeopardy:

Under Art 20 of the constitution, no person can be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once. If a person undergoes double punishment for the same offence, he is said to have undergone Double Jeopardy.


Secularism:

A secularist state has no official religion. It holds that no one religion should be given preference. It does not mean that it rejects the relevance of religion to life. All the religions should be treated equally. It is the duty of the govt. to protect the religious right of the citizen.


First Information Report:

In criminal law a case starts, when a party lodges an FIR. The information gathered from one of the parties to dispute or a simple narration of a witness may constitute an FIR. Based on the FIR the police investigate the criminal cases.


Equal pay for equal work:

The Directive principles of state policy contained in the part IV of the constitution direct the state to ensure that men and women are paid equal pay for equal work. The SC has also held that if men and women form a homogenous class and both perform identical work, then they should be paid equal wages.


Child Labour:

Under Art 39 of the constitution, it is the duty of the state, to see to it that children of tender age are not forced to work as labourers. Art 24 prohibits employment of children below the age 14 yrs in hazardous industries.

Sub Judice:

When a matter is pending before a court of contempt jurisdiction and is not decided finally, the matter is said to be subjudice. It is then a matter of prudence that when a case is subjudice, no person should make comments upon it

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Dying declaration:

It is a principle of criminal law, that a person will speak truth at the time of his death .In the criminal case if the deceased makes a statement, just before his death, it is called a dying declaration and is an important piece of evidence.

Art 370:

This article confers a temporary but special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. All the laws made by the parliament do not apply to this state. In the recent years, many political parties have expressed their desire to delete article370 of the constitution.

Anti-Defection law:

According to this law, the cabinet size of the central and the state governments cannot exceed 15% of the total number of members in the house including the PM and the CM. Secondly it debars the defector from holding any remunerative political post for the remaining period unless re-elected.

Dual Citizenship:-

Dual citizenship is the grant of overseas citizenship of India to PIO belonging to 16 specified countries and Indian citizens who choose to acquire citizenship of any of these countries at a later date. The Citizenship Act 1955 has been amended for this purpose.

Capital Punishment:

In the criminal system the death sentence and life imprisonment form the system of capital punishment. The IPC provides for such a punishment. In the manufacture, selling or dealing with spurious drugs is punished with capital punishment.

Telgi stamp paper scam:

The chief accused of this crime is Karim Telgi , who along with high profile officers, bureaucrats and politicians involved in the crime of printing and selling fake stamp papers which amounted to a whopping Rs.30,000 crores . They have been arrested under MCOCA.

Social justice:

The framers of the constitution wanted that the free citizens of independent India should get social justice. In this direction, legislations are made to reduce economic inequalities, to protect interests of the weaker sections and to provide decent standard of living to working people.

Extra judicial confession:

When an accused person voluntarily admits his guilt in court he is said to have made confession. But, when the same accused makes a confession to the police, it is called an extra judicial confession and has no evidentiary value.

F.S. Nariman:

Fali.S.Nariman is a senior advocate in the sc. He is the president of Bar Association of India and a member of Rajyasabha. F.S.Nariman has been named “Living Legend of the Law” by the International Bar Association. He has been awarded the Justice prize 2002 for his life time of work.

M.L.Setalvad:

He is the first Attorney General of India. He presented India before Redcliff Commission and UN between 1947 and 1950. During his tenure as Attorney General he eminently appeared in almost every case pertaining to constitutional provisions and public interest.

Nani Phalkiwala:

He was a leading constitutional lawyer and civil rights advocate who vigorously opposed the state of emergency imposed by Indhira Gandhi. He was an advocate in landmark Kesavananda Bharti case where he persuaded to the apex court to hold the power of amendment of constitution.

Justice A.S.Anand:

Justice A.S. Anand started his practice in J&K highcourt. Later he was appointed judge and subsequently the CJ of the SC. He also held the post of President of the Intl. Inst. Of Human Rights Society1996. He is presently the chairman of the NHRC.

Soli.J.Sorabji:

Attorney General of India from 1998-2004. He is a member of the UN sub commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of minorities. He was also a member of the constitution to review the working of the constitution of India in 2002. Padma Vibhushan award has been conferred on him.

Justice.V.R.Krishna Iyer:-

Krishna Iyer practiced law and involved himself in the defense of peasants and workers who are unjustly exploited by the jamindars. Later he became a judge in the SC. He was Judge in the case of Indhira Gandhi vs Rajnarayan

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F.S. Nariman:

Fali.S.Nariman is a senior advocate in the sc. He is the president of Bar Association of India and a member of Rajyasabha. F.S.Nariman has been named “Living Legend of the Law” by the International Bar Association. He has been awarded the Justice prize 2002 for his life time of work.

M.L.Setalvad:

He is the first Attorney General of India. He presented India before Redcliff Commission and UN between 1947 and 1950. During his tenure as Attorney General he eminently appeared in almost every case pertaining to constitutional provisions and public interest.

Nani Phalkiwala:

He was a leading constitutional lawyer and civil rights advocate who vigorously opposed the state of emergency imposed by Indhira Gandhi. He was an advocate in landmark Kesavananda Bharti case where he persuaded to the apex court to hold the power of amendment of constitution.

Justice A.S.Anand:

Justice A.S. Anand started his practice in J&K highcourt. Later he was appointed judge and subsequently the CJ of the SC. He also held the post of President of the Intl. Inst. Of Human Rights Society1996. He is presently the chairman of the NHRC.

Soli.J.Sorabji:

Attorney General of India from 1998-2004. He is a member of the UN sub commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of minorities. He was also a member of the constitution to review the working of the constitution of India in 2002. Padma Vibhushan award has been conferred on him.

Justice.V.R.Krishna Iyer:-

Krishna Iyer practiced law and involved himself in the defense of peasants and workers who are unjustly exploited by the jamindars. Later he became a judge in the SC. He was Judge in the case of Indhira Gandhi vs Rajnarayan.

Disinvestment:

Disinvestment operates to transfer inefficiently run public enterprises to private parties hence reducing public expenditure resulting from the financing of the enterprise, usually loss making, and free the resources wasted in running the loss making enterprise.

Sustainable Development:

A widely used international definition is ‘development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs’. The implementation of the Kyoto protocol is one such measure to ensure sustainable development.

Capital account convertibility:

Conversion of Indian rupees into foreign currency even for the purposes of trading on capital assets as opposed to conversion only for payment trading debts.

Elnino effect:

Elnino is a disruption of the ocean-temperature system in the tropical Pacific having important in influence on the weather around the globe. An atmospheric effect caused by meeting of warm and cold winds creating conditions unsuitable for agriculture.

VDIS scheme:

The voluntary disclosure of income scheme was introduced by Mr.Chidambaram to draw more people into the tax net of the country by allowing them to declare their concealed income and pay tax on it without any penalty. This brought out a whopping Rs.10, 500cr through taxes.

S.R.Bommai vs Union of India:

This SC case laying down that the court look into the materials or the reasons of the proclamation of the emergency to find out whether these materials or reasons were wholly extraneous to and had no rational nexus with the formation of the President’s satisfaction.

TRAI:

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is a body set up under the TRAI Act to regulate fares, services and participation of private players in the telecom sector.

Arbitration:

This is a form of alternate dispute resolution by passing the traditional justice system of courts and speeds up the dispute resolution process between parties through the participation of a neutral person called the arbitrar in resolving the disputes.

Insider trading:

This is the term for a form of illegal trading activity where a person who possesses some secret non public information about a company that is likely to affect the price of its shares, uses this information to trade in those shares for profit.

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Sustainable Development:

A widely used international definition is ‘development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs’. The implementation of the Kyoto protocol is one such measure to ensure sustainable development.

Capital account convertibility:

Conversion of Indian rupees into foreign currency even for the purposes of trading on capital assets as opposed to conversion only for payment trading debts.

Elnino effect:

Elnino is a disruption of the ocean-temperature system in the tropical Pacific having important in influence on the weather around the globe. An atmospheric effect caused by meeting of warm and cold winds creating conditions unsuitable for agriculture.

VDIS scheme:

The voluntary disclosure of income scheme was introduced by Mr.Chidambaram to draw more people into the tax net of the country by allowing them to declare their concealed income and pay tax on it without any penalty. This brought out a whopping Rs.10, 500cr through taxes.

S.R.Bommai vs Union of India:

This SC case laying down that the court look into the materials or the reasons of the proclamation of the emergency to find out whether these materials or reasons were wholly extraneous to and had no rational nexus with the formation of the President’s satisfaction.

TRAI:

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is a body set up under the TRAI Act to regulate fares, services and participation of private players in the telecom sector.

Arbitration:

This is a form of alternate dispute resolution by passing the traditional justice system of courts and speeds up the dispute resolution process between parties through the participation of a neutral person called the arbitrar in resolving the disputes.

Insider trading:

This is the term for a form of illegal trading activity where a person who possesses some secret non public information about a company that is likely to affect the price of its shares, uses this information to trade in those shares for profit.

UTI:-

A statutory body formed under the UTI Act which though widely perceived to assure good returns has run into controversy with its US-64 plan. Also currently in the eye of a storm because of its proposed merger with the GTB.

Insurance Regulatory Authority:

The IRA was set up to regulate private participation in the insurance sector. It lays down certain guidelines in keeping with the needed insurance policy in the light of opening of the markets.

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Exclusive Marketing Rights:

EMR’s are rights that are given to the inventors or applicants of a patent in one country so as to allow them to work the patent given in another country. These rights are provisional rights and the grant of a patent in another country is a ground for obtaining such a right.

TRIPS agreement:

The agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights entered into by member countries at the WTO, is aimed at establishing a uniform system of IPR protection across the world. The agreement lays down requirements and compliances for the IP laws of member countries of which India is a member.

General Augusto Pinochet:

A Chilean dictator allegedly responsible for wide spread torture and killings of opponents. He was recently summoned to court but took the excuse of bad health.

Hugo Chavez:

Hugo Chavez is the leftist President of Venezuela who has been in prominence lately for large scale protests against his rule in the country. Venezuela is an oil rich country and still suffers harsh poverty thus stirring agitation against Chavez.

Foreign Direct Investment:

This is governed by the regulations of the RBI which prescribe different FDI limits depending on the sectors that are sought to be invested in. These FDI inflows have been on the rise in the post liberalization era. India now boasts of having $130 billion as FDIs.

Asian Development Bank:

Multilateral financial agency promoting economic and social progress in the Asia Pacific region by providing loans, investments, consulting agreements etc. Established in 1966, owned by 59 countries belonging to the region, it is headquartered in Manila.

Seattle Round:

The Seattle Round the second round of WTO is popularly considered to be failed round, since it failed to complete its agenda of reviewing developments after GATT and reviewing compliances with GATT norms.

International Court of Justice:

The ICJ, located at Hague settles disputes between nations and international organizations and offers advisory opinions on issues of concern that arise before the UN or between countries.

Genocide:-

This refers to mass killing of communities arising out of ethnic, religious or social reasons. It has been held to be an International crime punishable by international tribunals. The genocide of Hutu tribe in Rwanda and the blacks in Darfur, Sudan are the best examples of genocide.

Most Favoured Nation:

One of the fundamental principles of GATT, it prevents grant of unfair unilateral benefits by ensuring that each member country offers equal trade opportunities to other member countries.

Narsimham Committee Report:

The report deals with the revamping of the banking sector and reformations with respect to regulations and other banking functions.

Central Vigilance Commissioner:

Appointed under the Prevention of Corruption Act with the objective of enhancing transparency of bureaucratic functioning, the CVC monitors and investigates corruption allegations against public officials.

Product Patent:

A patent is an exclusive right to produce an invention, granted by the govt. to the inventor of new technology. Essentially a product patent is a patent granted for a particular product, irrespective of what process or method was used to create it. Therefore one cannot create a new process to produce something that is already covered by the product patent.

Kyoto Protocol:

The Kyoto protocol is an international agreement reached in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan and commits the participating industrialized countries to cut emission of green house gases by over 5% below the 1990 levels by the period 2008-12. The protocol came into force on 18th Feb 2005 in the developed countries.

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Capital account convertibility:

Conversion of Indian rupees into foreign currency even for the purposes of trading on capital assets as opposed to conversion only for payment trading debts.

Elnino effect:

Elnino is a disruption of the ocean-temperature system in the tropical Pacific having important in influence on the weather around the globe. An atmospheric effect caused by meeting of warm and cold winds creating conditions unsuitable for agriculture.

VDIS scheme:

The voluntary disclosure of income scheme was introduced by Mr.Chidambaram to draw more people into the tax net of the country by allowing them to declare their concealed income and pay tax on it without any penalty. This brought out a whopping Rs.10, 500cr through taxes.

S.R.Bommai vs Union of India:

This SC case laying down that the court look into the materials or the reasons of the proclamation of the emergency to find out whether these materials or reasons were wholly extraneous to and had no rational nexus with the formation of the President’s satisfaction.

TRAI:

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is a body set up under the TRAI Act to regulate fares, services and participation of private players in the telecom sector.

Arbitration:

This is a form of alternate dispute resolution by passing the traditional justice system of courts and speeds up the dispute resolution process between parties through the participation of a neutral person called the arbitrar in resolving the disputes.

Insider trading:

This is the term for a form of illegal trading activity where a person who possesses some secret non public information about a company that is likely to affect the price of its shares, uses this information to trade in those shares for profit.

UTI:-

A statutory body formed under the UTI Act which though widely perceived to assure good returns has run into controversy with its US-64 plan. Also currently in the eye of a storm because of its proposed merger with the GTB.

Insurance Regulatory Authority:

The IRA was set up to regulate private participation in the insurance sector. It lays down certain guidelines in keeping with the needed insurance policy in the light of opening of the markets.

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Exclusive Marketing Rights:

EMR’s are rights that are given to the inventors or applicants of a patent in one country so as to allow them to work the patent given in another country. These rights are provisional rights and the grant of a patent in another country is a ground for obtaining such a right.

TRIPS agreement:

The agreement on Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights entered into by member countries at the WTO, is aimed at establishing a uniform system of IPR protection across the world. The agreement lays down requirements and compliances for the IP laws of member countries of which India is a member.

General Augusto Pinochet:

A Chilean dictator allegedly responsible for wide spread torture and killings of opponents. He was recently summoned to court but took the excuse of bad health.

Hugo Chavez:

Hugo Chavez is the leftist President of Venezuela who has been in prominence lately for large scale protests against his rule in the country. Venezuela is an oil rich country and still suffers harsh poverty thus stirring agitation against Chavez.

Foreign Direct Investment:

This is governed by the regulations of the RBI which prescribe different FDI limits depending on the sectors that are sought to be invested in. These FDI inflows have been on the rise in the post liberalization era. India now boasts of having $130 billion as FDIs.
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Asian Development Bank:

Multilateral financial agency promoting economic and social progress in the Asia Pacific region by providing loans, investments, consulting agreements etc. Established in 1966, owned by 59 countries belonging to the region, it is headquartered in Manila.

Seattle Round:

The Seattle Round the second round of WTO is popularly considered to be failed round, since it failed to complete its agenda of reviewing developments after GATT and reviewing compliances with GATT norms.

International Court of Justice:

The ICJ, located at Hague settles disputes between nations and international organizations and offers advisory opinions on issues of concern that arise before the UN or between countries.

Genocide:-

This refers to mass killing of communities arising out of ethnic, religious or social reasons. It has been held to be an International crime punishable by international tribunals. The genocide of Hutu tribe in Rwanda and the blacks in Darfur, Sudan are the best examples of genocide.

Most Favoured Nation:

One of the fundamental principles of GATT, it prevents grant of unfair unilateral benefits by ensuring that each member country offers equal trade opportunities to other member countries.

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bi-cameral legislature means having two houses, (bi=two, cameral=houses or chambers) five states in india have bi-cameral legislature, they are, jammu n kashmir, uttar pradesh, bihar, maharashtra and karnataka.

the procedure of the setting up and abolishment of the vidhan parishad is very simple and does not require any constitutional amendment. the proposal has to be voted for by a 2/3rd maj of the vidhan sabha of the state concerned and must be seconded by d parliament(i.e.a special majority)

the bicameral legislature is useful because of the foll reasons:
1)it encourages the involvement of ppl frm all spheres. since self governing local bodies, professors, teachers and students are a part of the electoral college for the 2nd chamber.
2)the talent and experience of people from various walks of life can be utilised by the common people. since the governor can nominate 1/12 people who have excelle din the fields of arts, science, lit, social service, etc
3)it helps to share the workload of the vidhan sabha

however its utility can be questioned on the foll grounds:
1)it has no say in the financial matters
2)a bill proposed by the vidhan parishad and rejected by the vidhan sabha leads to the end of the bill
3)the very existence of the vidhan parishad is dependent on the vidhan sabha.
4)the vidhan parishad can at the most delay the bill proposed by the vidhan sabha for 3mths. if they do not return the bill it is deemed to have been passed.

atleast this is what i think it is.. please feel free to correct me if i am wrong.. hope i could be of some help..

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Liberhan Commission was constituted on December 16, 1992 by an order of the Indian union home ministry following the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on 6 December and the riots in Ayodhya city. The Commission was expected to submit its report within three months. Seven long years have passed since, but it has not been able even to examine all witnesses.

SOME EX-CHIEF JUSTICES AND THEIR JUDGEMENTS

M. N. Venkatachaliah
Mr. N. Venkatachala is a very prominent figure in the state of Karnataka for the great work that he is been doing in exposing corrupt politicians, while heading the state Anti-Corruption body - "Lokayukta". A former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, he is an expert in matters of Law and Administration.
He has been in news recently for his backlash against the government for not acting on his recommendations for the punishment of the guilty. He intends to go to the Governor, if the Government does not heed to his demand for suo-motu prosecution powers.

S. P. Bharucha
Sam Piroj Bharucha (May 6, 1937) was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India from 2001 until his retirement in 2002.Bharucha is responsible for many significant legal decisions. He was part of the 5-judge constitutional panel which unanimously ruled on the 2001 dismissal of J. Jayalalithaa as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, the first such dismissal of a chief minister in India's history.


G. B. Pattanaik
When Justice G.B. Pattanaik took over as the Chief Justice of India (CJI) it was apparent that he would not be able to achieve much in the administration of the judiciary, in view of his retirement on December 19.
Yet, he began a momentous chapter in the history of Indian judiciary by putting into practice the `in-house procedure' evolved in 1997 to deal with allegations of misconduct against members of the higher judiciary.
Some of the well published judgements of Justice Pattanaik includes those on - the Narmada Sarovar project . - Denying the central government of India to grant permission to Hindu organisation to perfrom ceremonies at the didputed Babri masjid site in Ayodhya. - Contempt of court case against booker prize winner Arundati Roy. - Acquital of several persons belonging to the minority communit in cases relating to the Bombay riots . - The constitutional reference on the minotity educational institutions.

B.N. Srikrishna

In 1992-93, the city of Bombay was rocked by bomb blasts blamed on Muslim terrorists and communal riots between the Hindu and Muslim communities. Justice Srikrishna, then a relatively junior Judge of the Bombay High Court, accepted the task of investigating the causes of the riots, something that many of his colleagues had turned down. Painstakingly, for five years till 1998, he examined victims, witnesses and alleged perpetrators. Detractors came initially from left-secular quarters who were wary of a judge who was a devout and practicing Hindu. As the Justice Srikrishna Commission progressed however, the Shiv Sena and its allies found that the Judge was uncompromising in his drive to find the truth into the pogrom. The Commission was later disbanded by the Shiv Sena led government in January 1996 and on public opposition was later reconstituted on 28 May 1996 albeit its terms of reference were extended to include the Mumbai bomb blasts that followed in March 1993. The objective behind this was alleged to be that the Shiv Sena wished the Judge to find that the riots were simply a “reaction” by “Hindus” to the bomb blasts in the city and this somehow mitigated the blame for the bloodshed.
Not unexpectedly, the report was criticized as “politically motivated” and the Judge was accused of being “anti-Hindu” (the last charge was particularly ironical considering that the Judge was a Sanskrit scholar and devout Hindu). It raised a storm across the country and in many parts of the world.

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Narsimham Committee Report:

The report deals with the revamping of the banking sector and reformations with respect to regulations and other banking functions.

Central Vigilance Commissioner:

Appointed under the Prevention of Corruption Act with the objective of enhancing transparency of bureaucratic functioning, the CVC monitors and investigates corruption allegations against public officials.

Product Patent:

A patent is an exclusive right to produce an invention, granted by the govt. to the inventor of new technology. Essentially a product patent is a patent granted for a particular product, irrespective of what process or method was used to create it. Therefore one cannot create a new process to produce something that is already covered by the product patent.

Kyoto Protocol:

The Kyoto protocol is an international agreement reached in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan and commits the participating industrialized countries to cut emission of green house gases by over 5% below the 1990 levels by the period 2008-12. The protocol came into force on 18th Feb 2005 in the developed countries.

Tsunami:

A tsunami is a natural phenomenon consisting of a series of waves generated when water in a lake or a sea is radically displaced on a massive scale. Earthquakes, land slides, volcanic eruptions and large meteorite impacts all have a potential to trigger a tsunami. The effects of tsunami can range from unnoticeable to devastation.

Tsunami warning system:

The Pacific Tsunami Warning System was established in 1949 in Hawaii. It provides warning for tsunami to most countries in the Pacific Basin as well as to Hawaii. India and some south Asian countries mooted a plan to set up such a system in the Indian Ocean after the recent tsunami.

Absolute liability

Liability that exists and is imposed upon a party, even though no negligence or fault was committed by that party. Absolute liability is most often imposed when the circumstances of the operation, product, or activity are considered highly hazardous or dangerous.

Strict liability

Strict liability is a legal doctrine applying to tort law that basically holds the manufacturer, wholesaler and/or retailers (or in the case of property—the owner) liable for injuries that may be caused by defective or dangerous products or premises conditions. It does not require the injured party to prove negligence. Negligence can be assumed because of the inherent danger of the product, defect or premises condition. Strict liability, however, is not absolute liability.

Vicarious Liability
An employer is vicariously liable for negligent acts or omissions by his employee in the course of employment whether or not such act or omission was specifically authorized by the employer. To avoid vicarious liability, an employer must demonstrate either that the employee was not negligent in that the employee was reasonably careful or that the employee was acting in his own right rather than on the employer's business.

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ATTACK @ IISC :
Terrorists struck at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore on December 28th where they targeted delegates coming out of an international conference at the campus.The terrorists shot dead Mr. M.C.Puri a scientist from IIT, New Delhi.

ANTI – HIJACK POLICY :
India announced this policy on august 14th 2005 accorsing to which any hijacked plane used as a missile to target installations would be sot down. Any negotiations with the hijackers will only be aimed at preventing loss of life or ending the incident.

LONDON TRAIN BLASTS :
The 7th july 2005 bombings were a series of suicide bombings that struck London’s Public Transport System. Three bombs exploded on three underground trains while the 4th exploded on a bus at Tavistock Square.
[ 56 ppl died, 700 injured. Al-Quaeda took responsibility]

DELHI-METRO PROJECT:
The Delhi Mass Rapid Transit system (MRTS) is a rapid transit system in New Delhi operated by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Ltd., It was opened on Dec 24th,2002. This system being cost-saving and environmentally-sound achieved a ISO 14001 certification. The second longest line in the system was recently flagged by Sonia Gandhi.

KYOTO PROTOCOL :
It is an International agreement signed by 162 countries in 1997 @ Kyoto, Japan and is an amendment to the UNFCC. The countries are committed to reduce their emissions of Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The violation of these norms by certain countries has recently created a controversy.

MONTREAL CONFERENCE :
The UNITED NATIONS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE held at Montreal, Canada ( Nov 28th – Dec 9th 2005) ,was the 11th Conference Of Parties to the UNFCC and also the 1st Meeting Of Parties of the Kyoto Protocol since its inception in 1997. It was one of the largest intergovernmental conferences on climate change marking the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol.

EAS :
The East Asian Summit is a pan-Asia forum on broad strategic, political and economical issues, to be held annually by 16 East-Asian countries with ASEAN in leadership. The 1st summit was held in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 14th 2005. The Kuala Lumpur declaration was issued at the end of the summit. The next summit is to be held at Metro Cebu, Phillipines.
[ Russia has applied for membership and has been granted observer status. The USA and EU wish to have some role and be granted observer status.]




WTO – Hong Kong Ministerial conference:
The 6th WTO Ministerial conference held at Hong Kong ( Dec 13 – 18 2005) saw the participation of over 140 countries. It resulted in India forming a core group on Non-Agricultural Market Access ( NAMA) with 8 other countries and also a Coalition of 110 developing countries called G-110.


4th ASEAN-INDIA SUMMIT:
This was held at Kuala Lumpur (Dec 13th 2005). Malaysian PM, Mr.A.A.Badawi expressed concern at India’s proposal to leave out “A substantial portion of trade” from the FTA (by excluding a large number of goods from tariff concessions). Indian PM, Dr.Singh offered New Delhi’s experience in dealing with terrorism to the ASEAN countries.

INDIAN & ASIAN REGIONS CPA CONFERENCE;
The 2nd conference of the Indian and Asian regions’ Commonwealth Parliamentary Association was held at New Delhi ( Dec 17th 2005). It was inaugurated by our VP, Mr.Shekhawat. 140 delegates delegates from the CPA branches of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka had participated.

PAWAN BANSAL COMMITTEE:
It is a 7 member committee headed by Mr.Pawan Kumar Bansal . It was announced by Mr.Somnath Chatterjee to look into the allegations made against the MPs of being involved in corruption under the MPLAD scheme. The committee under OPERATION DURYODHAN recommended the expulsion of 11 MPs which was accepted.

NATIONAL DISASTER RESPONSE FUND (NRDF):
The NRDF has been created by the Centre to ensure quick relief to people affected by natural disasters. The existing National Calamity and Contingency Fund (NCCF) has been converted into the NDRF (with a corpus of Rs. 21,300 Cr.). It will be managed by the National Disaster Management Authority (NADA).


INDIA-US EDUSAT:
President APJ Abdul Kalam launched the India- US universities’ EDUSAT network on Dec 8th 2005 at New Delhi for higher education and research.

EDUSAT:
Or GSAT-3 was launched in Sep’04 by the ISRO and is the 1st Indian Communication System built exclusively to serve the educational sector.It is mainly intended to meet the demand for an interactive satellite-based distance education system for the country.


WDR:
The World Bank’s annual WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT (WDR) is an invaluable guide to the economic, social and environmental state of the world today. Each year, the WDR provides an in-depth analysis of a specific aspect of development. The recent WDR 2006 was an analysis on equity and development. In 2007 its theme will be youth.

LTTE:
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam also known as the Tamil tigers is headed by Velupilai Prabhakaran. It is a military organization fighting to establish an independent Tamil state in the North- East of Sri Lanka. Recently there has been some ceasefire talks held at Geneva.

GENEVA TALKS:
The Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE had asked Norway to facilitate talks and it was held at Geneva ( 22-23rd feb’05) to discuss the implementation of a cease-fire agreement. The second round of talks are to be held from April19th -21st 2006.

( write once u get the info after the talks scheduled have taken place .. i think the talks were rescheduled..anyone got info on this?)


SRINAGAR-MUZAFFARABAD BUS SERVICE:
The S-M bus service was inaugurated by Dr.Manmohan Singh from Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium on April 7th thus connecting the two cities after 57 years and helping to reunite divided families.

NALGONDA TRAIN DERAILING:
The Delta Express crashed near the town of Veligonda in Nalgonda district, Andhra Pradesh after the passenger train derailed in floods on October 29th 2005. Over 100 people were killed.

PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING ACT, 2002.
The PMLA which was amended to remove certain shortcomings came into effect on July 21st 2005. The 3 objectives are,(1)to prevent and control money laundering (2)to confiscate and seize property obtained from laundered money(3)to deal with any other issue connected with money laundering.

BILL BANNING DANCE BARS
The Maharashtra assembly passed a controversial bill on July 21st banning dance bars across the state, thus throwing thousands of bar girls from the 300 odd dance bars into unemployment. Recently the Bombay High Court quashed the ordinance on April 12th 2006.

GALILEO NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITE
The Galileo Positioning system is a proposed navigation system to be built by the EU as an alternative to the US Military’s GPS and the Russian GLONASS. The system should be operational by 2010 and the 1st satellite was launched from Kazakhstan on Dec 28th ’05.


IMF WAIVING OF DEBT
The IMF waived a $3.3 billion debt owed by 19 of the world’s poorest countries. This will help those third-world countries to reduce poverty, promote growth and to achieve the UN Millennium development goals

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Fundamental Rights:

Part III of the Indian constitution guarantees certain fundamental rights to the Indian citizens. They provide that all the citizens shall be treated equally. They shall enjoy the right to freedom, right to life and freedom to preach & practice religion.

Fundamental Duties:-

Part 4A confers certain fundamental duties. Art. 51A was inserted into the constitution by the 42nd amendment in 1976. These duties cannot be enforced through constitution.

Untouchability:

Untouchability is an evil practice where in , a section of the society is kept away from the villages calling them untouchables . The social evil is a stigma on our society. Art 17 of the constitution abolishes untouchability and made its practice a punishable offence.

Cyber laws:

In the cyber age we live in, many business transactions are carried out by means E-Commerce. A variety of offences are committed on the internet. To take care of these developments the parliament has made some cyber laws . Information Act is one such.

Supreme Court:

The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal in India. It is established under Art 124 of the constitution. The law declared by the constitution becomes the law of the land binding all the courts in India. It consists of a Chief Justice and not more than 25 other judges.

Free Legal Aid:

In order to protect the poor citizens who are economically disabled , Art 39A makes provision for free legal aid for the poor citizens . It is the constitutional obligation of the state to ensure that the poor citizens are provided free legal aid so that they are not deprived of justice.

Freedom of press:

Press is regarded as the fourth pillar of democracy. A free press is a symbol of a healthy democracy. Freedom of press is impliedly derived from freedom of speech provided in Art 19 of the constitution. Though the state cannot this freedom, it can impose reasonable restrictions.

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Terrorism:

Terrorism is the unlawful use force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population or any segment there of in furtherance of political or social objectives.

Cross border terrorism:

Cross border terrorism is that breed of terrorism which is perpetrated by terrorists not based in the same land where the terrorist act is carried. It involves bases across states and is global and not local or indigenous in nature.

Ozone layer:-

This is a layer of the atmosphere, rich in the gas ozone. It acts as natural defense against harmful UV radiation from the sun that might otherwise reach humans. However, byproducts of human technology like CFCs are damaging the ozone layer admitting UV radiation.

Cognizable offences:

Cognizable offences are those where the police can investigate and take action without a complaint made about it. These offences attract the attention of the law enforcing authorities.
They are usually more serious than non-cognizable offences.

Third generation Human Rights:

The Third generation of Human rights is the rights of groups. This gives the individual the right to be part of a collective group. This collective group can be one’s religion, race, and ethnic origins and includes the controversial right to self determination.

National Human Rights Commission:

The NHRC was setup in 1993 with the objective of safe guarding human rights by investigating human rights violation and punishing the offenders. This is a powerful organization that frequently takes up claims against government entities including the police. Justice Anand is the chairman.

Doctrine of Pre-emption:

The doctrine of pre-emption postulates that any nation can legitimately attack a nation that is not imminently threatening but may be threatening in the future. It is a radical new twist on the traditional idea of self defense.

Right to Education:

By virtue of the 86th amendment of the constitution, education is a fundamental right for all the children in the 6-14 age group. Right to education is a directive principle and it is not age wise.
Some scholars criticized this article for depriving the right to children below 6yrs.
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Dumping:

Dumping means export of an article from any country to India at less than its normal value i.e. when the prices at which the goods are exported to India are less than the comparable price
For the like product when destined for consumption in the domestic market of the exporting country.

Information Technology Act:

This Act makes a variety of electronic transactions legally valid thus making the way for implementation of IT infrastructure and E-commerce. Pursuant to this Act electronic contracts are valid, digital signatures are recognized, cyber crimes are identified and punished.

BT cotton:

It is the cotton containing the insecticidal gene of Bt which causes the plant itself make the protein necessary for protection against pests. This has certainly been the single largest commercial application of r-DNA technology in the world so far.

Unlawful Activities Act:

The Unlawful Activities Amendment Bill retains most of the key provisions of POTA including the definition of terrorism,
Those recognizing funding of terror as a terrorist act punishable with imprisonment which may extend to life sentence, but does away with some of the stringent provisions including those relating to bail.

World Social Forum:

WSF is a single issue international protest movement largely against capitalist led globalization. The 4th WSF was held in Mumbai, India in January 2004. The attendance was expected to be more than 75,000 from all over the world. It deliberated over a host of issues including globalization, capitalism, imperialism, racism and the environment.

Investment Commission:

The newly formed three member Investment Commission, under the Finance ministry, is headed by Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata. It is created to engage business in India and advice the govt. on investment related issues. Through the Commission the govt. proposes to create an investor friendly environment.

The Ambani Tussle:

In November 2004, Mukesh Ambani disclosed the tussle with his brother regarding ownership issues. Over the next four weeks the share price of the company and other and the listed companies of the group have taken a beating. The govt. too did not want to intervene in the tussle.

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SIMPUTERS :----
new, simple, Linux-based handheld computers that work in places without electrical or telephone grids and can be used by the illiterate . First set of Simputers deployed in Chhattishgarh. It is a most promising invention of the last century by four professors of the city-based prestigious Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and three technologists from Encore Software,is on its first field trials for an education project in the Bastar area of the predominantly tribal state.

THE ORANGE REVOLUTION :---
Ukraine’s Orange Revolution" of 2004-2005 was a series of protests and political events that took place throughout the country in response to allegations of massive corruption, voter intimidation and direct electoral fraud during Ukraine's Presidential Run-off Election of November 21, 2004 (November 2004 Ukrainian presidential election).

DARFUR CONFLICT:-
It is an ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Western Sudan,mainly between the Janjaweed,m government supported militia group recruited from local arab tribes , and the non arab people o fthe region,The conflict began in feb.2003.The conflict has been described as "ethnic cleansing" or "genocide" from the western media.

what ure calling the job bill if its National rural emloyment guarantee bill ure talking bout then it is here------

National Rural Emloyment Guarantee Bill,2005:--
It was passed by the parliament on Aug.24,2005.The bill seeks to provide 100 days assured employment in year to every rural household in 200 districts.The minimum daily wage is fixed at Rs.60.

DICOVERIES RETURN:---
On Aug.9,2005,the space shuttle, Discovery and its 7 astronauts returned to earth safely thus accomplishing NASA's main goal for the mission--safe launching and landing the shuttle.Discovery made its re entry into earths atmosphere and swooped over the Pacific Ocean before gliding towards a smooth landing at Edwards Airforce base at California after a 14 day mission that included a stay at the international space station.

India-EU summit:

The 5th summit between the EU and India was held in The Hague. There was an agreement to take forward in the immediate future the implementation of key actions like jointly elaborating a comprehensive EU-India Action plan for strategic partnership.
It also emphasized on disarmament and non-proliferation among other things.

Dual Citizenship:

In May 2003, the Union cabinet decided to grant dual citizenship to Indians living in 16 countries. It will NRI’s to not only inherit the property and invest in the market, but also travel to India without visas. They will not have the privilege of voting rights and will not be allowed to hold constitutional offices.

India ASEAN partnership agreement:

Taking a giant step forward in their strategic ties, India and 10 ASEAN countries have signed a historic partnership pact for peace, progress and shared prosperity, vowed to jointly fight international terrorism and decided to promote and facilitate cross flows of foreign direct investment.

River linking project:

The Indian river linking project of Rs.5,60,000cr is referred to as Amrit Kranti. The science of river linking is the idea that water will be diverted from surplus rivers to deficit rivers, thus ameliorating floods and drought and improving food security by creation of irrigation facilities.

Sutlej-Yamuna link canal:

In a major boost to the Haryana govt., the SC in June 2004 directed the centre to construct the unfinished portion of controversial SYL canal in the territory of Punjab to facilitate sharing of the Punjab river waters between the Punjab and Haryana states.

Lithuania Ratification:

Lithuania has become the first country in the EU to ratify the European constitution – just less than two weeks after the document was formally signed. The small Baltic state, which joined the EU in May 2004, ratified the document through its parliament - the Siemas – by an overwhelming majority.

Gorshkov Deal:

In January 2004, India signed its biggest ever defense deal with Russia for the purchase of aircraft carrier, Admiral Gorshkov, along with deck based MiG-29K fighter aircraft and other systems. Gorshkov will replace India’s only aircraft carrier, INS Viraat. Its induction is in 2008.

Mamallapuram:

Mamallapuram is India’s first completely E-Literate district. The Kerala govt. through Akshaya project opened about 620 kiosks all over the district. The kiosks have made at least one person in each of the district’s 6.5 lakh families computer literate.

SAARC Free Trade Zone:

In January 2004, seven SAARC countries signed a treaty that would lead to free trade and movement of goods paving the way for South Asian Economic Union along the lines of EU in the future. It would allow free movement of people to work in other countries in the region and form joint ventures with companies in these countries.

Tehri dam case:

The Tehri Hydro Electric corporation was incorporated as a joint venture between GoI and govt. of UP. Removing legal hurdles for the ongoing construction of the dam in Uttaranchal, the SC said there was no material record to show that statutory environmental conditions had not been compiled with.

Confidence Building Measures;

CBM as the name suggests aim at building confidence with potential adversaries. While the short term aim of the present CBMs between India and Pakistan is ‘conflict avoidance’, the long term aim is to find a workable solution to the seemingly intractable problems between the two countries.

Euthanasia:

Euthanasia can be defined as the act of intentionally assisting in someone’s death rather than allowing them to die naturally.
There are two ways in which this can happen. The passive method entails switching off a life support system. The active method involves the administration of lethal drugs. It is in force only in Belgium and Netherlands.

Election Commission of India:

Election Commission of India is a permanent constitutional body. The Constitution of India has vested in the EC the superintendence, direction and control of the entire process of conduct of elections to Parliament and Legislatures of every state and to the offices of the President and Vice-President.

DTH:

DTH stands for Direct to Home television. DTH is defined as the reception of satellite programmes with a personal dish in an individual home. DTH does away with the need for the local cable operator and puts the broadcaster directly in touch with the customer.

BrahMos:

BrahMos cruise missile is a jointly developed missile by India and Russia, to enhance their long-range strike ability. The supersonic missile which derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moscow rivers in both countries, has a range of almost 300KM and is designed for use with land, sea and aerial platforms.

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