General Knowledge

40. Who abolished Iqta System ? Babur

39. Who introduced The Iqta System ? Iltutmish

38.The System of Judicial Review exists in : India and U.S.A.

37. Which is not a Central Service ? Indian Police Services

36. The Method of Constitutional Amendment is Provided in : Article 368

35. Trachoma is a disease of : Eye

34. The one who benefited by inflation : Debtor

33. ‘Newton’s disc’ when rotated at a great speed appears : White

32. The Headquarter of U. N.O. is located in : New York

31. Shambhu Maharaj excelled in : Kathak Dance

30. The tissue in man where no cell division occurs after birth is : Nerves

29. Shivasamudram Falls is found in the course of river :Cauvery

28.The dried flower buds are used as a spice in : Cloves

27. Which of the following books is authored by V.S. Naipalu ? A House for Mr. Biswas

26. 2018 FIFA World Cup would be held in : Russia

25. Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) : K. V. Chowdary

24. Chief Economic Advisor to Government of India : Arvind Subramanian

23. Chief Election Commissioner of India : Dr. Nasim Zaidi

22. Recently appointed ISRO Chairman : A S Kiran Kumar

21. Central Information Commission (CIC) : Vijai Sharma

20. Hormones are normally absent in : Bacteria

19. The Indian Institue of Advanced Studies is located in : Shimla

18. Chittor is associated with : Rana Pratap

17. Obra is famous for : Thermal Power Station

16. If the lens in eye becomes opaque, the disease is called : Cataract

15. Which one of the following Commissions is not provided in the Constitution of India? Planning Commission

14. Which colour of light shows maximum deviation when passed through a prism? Violet

13. The Constituent Assembly of India started functioning from: 9th Dec, 1946

12. Isohaline is an imaginary line joining the places having equal: Salinity

11. Who was the author of Gita Govind ? Jayadeva

10. The curcumin is isolated from : Turmeric

9. Light scattering takes place in : Colloidal solutions

8. Which is the only country whose postage stamps do not bear its name ? U.K.

7. The sugar present in DNA is : Xylulose

6. Conversion of sound energy into electrical energy is done by : Microphone

5. The department of Archaeology was started in India by : Curzon

4. Which important event immediately preceded the Jallianwala Bagh massacre ? Rowlatt Act Enactment

3. Rajghat Dam is situated on river : Betwa

2. The instrument for measuring the altitude of celetial bodies is called : Sextant

1. The Rajya Sabha has equal powers with the Lok Sabha in the matter of : Amending the Constitution

Indian Gift to World

Dear Lovely Shailja

Legislative council of India: Formation and Functions

The Legislative Council or the Vidhan Parishad is the Upper Chamber of the State Legislature. Union Parliament has the power’ to create or abolish the Legislative Council in various states on the basis of resolutions adopted by special majority in the Assemblies.

Article 169 states: Abolition or creation of Legislative Councils in States

(1) Notwithstanding anything in Article 168, Parliament may by law provide for the abolition of the Legislative Council of a State having such a Council or for the creation of such a Council in a State having no such Council, if the Legislative Assembly of the State passes a resolution to that effect by a majority of the total membership of the Assembly and by a majority of not less than two thirds of the members of the Assembly present and voting

(2) Any law referred to in clause ( 1 ) shall contain such provisions for the amendment of this Constitution as may be necessary to give effect to the provisions of the law and may also contain such supplemental, incidental and consequential provisions as Parliament may deem necessary

(3) No such law as aforesaid shall be deemed to be an amendment of this Constitution for the purposes of Article 368

As mentioned in the constitution the total membership of the Legislative Council shall not be less than forty and more than one third of the total number of members of the Legislative Assembly of the concerned state.

All the members of the Legislative Council are either indirectly elected or nominated by the Governor. Let us take a look at the way the Legislative Council is constituted.

a) One-third of the members of this House are elected by the Legislative Assembly from amongst persons who are not its members.

b) One-third of its members “are elected by the local bodies like Munici­palities or District Boards or any other local authority as specified by the law of the Parliament.

c) One-twelfth of the members are elected by graduates of at least three years standing.

d) One-twelfth of the members are elected by teachers of secondary schools having at least three years experience.

e) About one-sixth of the members are nominated by the Governor from among persons possessing. Special knowledge and experience in the field of art, science, literature, social service and cooperative movement.

Very simple qualifications are prescribed for membership in the Vidhan Parishad. Any Indian citizen who is 30 years of age or more having such other qualifications as prescribed by the Parliament can become a member of the Vidhan Parishad. Of course a person cannot simultaneously be a Member of Parliament and State Legislature. The Legislative Council like the Council of States is a permanent chamber, not subject to dissolution. The members are elected for a period of six years and like Rajya Sabha one-third of members retire every second year. The Legislative Council elects its Chairman and Deputy Chairman from amongst its members.

LUCKNOW-INDIA-VIDHAN_16508fTheoretically the powers of the Legislative Council are coequal with the Assembly. But in reality the Council is a weak partner of the Legislative Assembly. Ordinary bills can originate in any chamber of the legislature. A bill in order to become an Act must be approved by both the chambers and receive the assent of the Governor. The Governor may give his assent or return the bill back to” legislature with his observations. The legislature while reconsidering the bill may or may not take note of the views of the Governor on the bill. The Governor is bound to give his assent to the bill when it is presented to him for the second time. If the Legislative Council disagrees with a bill passed by the Legislative Assembly, then the bill must have a second journey, from the Assembly to the Council.

But ultimately the views of the Assembly shall prevail. The Council has no powers to advise a bill passed in the Assembly. It can only delay the passage of the bill for 3 months in the first instance and for one month in the second. There is no provision of joint sitting as in case of disagreement in Parliament over ordinary bills. In the ultimate analysis the Legislative Council is a dilatory chamber so far as ordinary legislation is concerned. It can delay the passage of the bill maximum for a period of four months.

In the domain of finance it has almost no powers. Like the Council of States, it enjoys a subordinate position in financial matters. Money Bills originate only in Assembly. After they are passed in the Assembly it is sent to the Council. The Council can keep it maximum for a period of 14 days. If it does not pass it within that period, it is deemed to have received the approval of that House.

The Council can control the executive by way of putting questions to ministers, by raising debates and adjournment motions to highlight the lapses of the government but it cannot throw a government out of power. The Legislative Assembly in addition, to the powers discussed above enjoys the power to move vote of no confidence which can force the government to resign. In case of controlling the executive the final say lies with the Legislative Assembly.

The makers of the Constitution have deliberately given a secondary position to the Council of States so that both the chambers in the state do not compete with each other for supremacy. The purpose was to accommodate various professional interests in the Legislative Council, who through their experience can act as the friend, philosopher and guide of the Legislative Assembly.

As of today, Seven (out of twenty-eight) states have a Legislative Council: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Assam. Union Cabinet has cleared State of Assam to formed ‘Legislative Council’ in December 2013. In 2010 the Parliament of India passed an Act to re-establish a Legislative Council for a seventh state, Tamil Nadu, but implementation of the Act has been put on hold pending legal action; the state government has also expressed its opposition to the council’s revival.

Rajani Kant Indra

Dept. of Law, Lucknow University, Lucknow

June 24, 2015

Nagaland

Angami Naga Tribe

Hornbill Festival

Khonoma Green Village

Kohima War Cemetery

Chinese Veto in UN

Progressive Justice System

Geographical Indicators

Lovely Shailja photographed by Deep Shikha Indra