32: General Information

Table of Precedence:

CIVILIAN AWARDS

NOBEL LAUREATES:

ABHIJIT BANERJEE

• He won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2019. The 58year-old  half-Bengali, half-Konkani economist is the Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. 
• He shared the prestigious global award with his economist-wife, Esther Duflo, and another US-based economist, Michael Kremer for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.

KAILASH SATYARTHI

• The Nobel Peace Prize of 2014 was awarded to Kailash Satyarthi for struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education.
• In 1980, he left his career as an electrical engineer to set up Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement).
• He also heads the Global March Against Child Labour, a movement to mobilise worldwise efforts to protect and promote the rights of all children.

VENKATRAMAN RAMAKRISHNAN

• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2009 for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome, molecular machine that makes protein. He earned his B.Sc. in Physics (1971) from M. S. University in Baroda, Gujarat and Ph.D. (1976) in Physics from Ohio University in the USA.
• Making a transition from physics to biology, he studied a molecule called rhodopsin, as a graduate student in biology at the University of California, San Diego, from 1976 to 1978.

AMARTYA SEN

• Prof. Amartya Sen is the recipient of the Nobel Prize for Economics for the year 1998, becoming the first Asian to have been honoured with the award.
• The Santiniketan-born economist who is a pioneer in Welfare Economics has to his credit several books and papers on aspects of welfare and development. 
• He has distinguished himself with his outstanding writings on famine, poverty, democracy, gender and social issues.
• The ‘impossibility theorem’ suggested earlier by Kenneth Arrow states that it was not possible to aggregate individual choices into a satisfactory choice for society as a whole. Prof. Sen showed mathematically that societies could find ways to alleviate such a poor outcome.

SUBRAMANIAN CHANDRASHEKHAR   

• The Nobel Prize for Physics in 1983 was awarded to Dr S. Chandrashekhar, an Indian-born astrophysicist.
• He was the nephew of his Nobel forbear, Sir C.V. Raman.
• He developed a theory on white dwarf stars which posts a limit of mass of dwarf stars known also as Chandrashekhar Limit. His theory explains the final stages of stellar evolution.

MOTHER TERESA   

• The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Mother Teresa in 1979.  She was born in Yogoslavia, joined the Irish order of the Sisters, came to Kolkata in 1929 as a missionary.
• Having become an Indian citizen, Mother Teresa served the cause of dying destitute, lepers, and drug addicts, through Nirmal Hriday (meaning Pure Heart), the main center of her activity. Her selfless service and unique devotion, not only to helpless fellow-Indians but also to the cause of world peace, earned her and India the first Nobel Peace Prize.

HARGOBIND KHORANA

• Hargobind Khorana was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1968.
• His major breakthrough in the field of Medicine —interpreting the genetic code and analysing its function in protein synthesis — fetched him the Nobel Prize.

CHANDRASEKHARA VENKATA RAMAN   

• India’s first Nobel Prize for Physics was claimed in 1930 by the renowned physicist Sir C.V. Raman.
• He received the Nobel Prize for an important optics research, in which he discovered that diffused light contained rays of other wavelengths—what is now popularly known as Raman Effect.
• His theory discovered in 1928 explains the change in the frequency of light passing through a transparent medium.

RABINDRANATH TAGORE (1861-1941):

• He was the first Indian ever to receive a Nobel Prize. Popularly known as Gurudev, India’s
  Poet Laureate Tagore was born in 1861 in Kolkata.
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in recognition of his work Geetanjali, a collection of poems, in 1913.
• Tagore wrote many love lyrics.  Geetanjali and Sadhana are among his important works. He is also the author of India’s National Anthem. In 1901, he founded the famous Santiniketan which later came to be known as Vishwa Bharati University

National Sports and Adventure Awards:

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna

• Highest sporting honour of the country, awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• For “spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports over a period of four years” at the international level.
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Awards 2019: Bajrang Punia; Deepa Malik.

Dronacharya Award

• For Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the country.
• Dronacharya Awards 2019
• (Regular category) Mohinder Singh Dhillon; Sandeep Gupta; Vimal Kumar.
• (Lifetime category) Sanjay Bhardwaj; Rambir Singh Khokar; and Mezban Patel.

Arjuna Awards

• To recognize outstanding achievement in sports.

Dhyan Chand Award

•  lifetime achievement sporting honour of the country.

Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskar

It is conferred in four categories:

1. Identification and nurturing of budding/young talent;
2. Encouragement to sports through Corporate Social Responsibility;
3. Employment of sports persons and sports welfare measures
4. Sports for Development

Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award

• Highest national recognition for outstanding achievements in the field of adventure on land, sea and air.
• At par with the Arjuna Award for sporting excellence.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Trophy

by the Ministry of Education and awarded  to a University with all-round best performance in sports at inter-university, national and international competitions

Constitutional Amendments at a Glance

First Amendment Act, 1951

1. Empowered the state to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and economically backward classes.
2. Provided for the saving of laws providing for acquisition of estates, etc.
3. Added Ninth Schedule along with Articles 31A and 31B to protect the land reform and other laws included in it from the judicial review.
4. Added three more grounds of restrictions on freedom of speech and expression, viz.,

• Public order,
• Friendly relations with foreign states and
• Incitement to an offence. 
• Further Restrictions were made reasonable and justiciable.

5. Provided that state trading and nationalisation of any trade or business by the state is not to be invalid on the ground of violation of the right to trade or business.

Second Amendment Act, 1952

• Readjusted the scale of representation in the Lok Sabha by providing that one member could represent even more than 7,50,000 persons.

Third Amendment Act, 1954

• Empowered the Parliament to control the production, supply and distribution of the foodstuffs, cattle fodder, raw cotton, cotton seed and raw jute in the public interest.

Fourth Amendment Act, 1955

1. Made the scale of compensation given in lieu of compulsory acquisition of private property beyond the scrutiny of courts.
2. Authorised the state to nationalise any trade.
3. Included some more Acts in the Ninth Schedule.
4. Extended the scope of Article 31 A (savings of laws).

Fifth Amendment Act, 1955

• Empowered the president to fix the timelimit for the state legislatures to express their views on the proposed Central legislation affecting the areas, boundaries and names of the states.

Sixth Amendment Act, 1956

• Made changes in Articles 269 and 286, Included a new subject in the Union list i.e., taxes on the sale and purchase of goods in the course of inter-state trade and commerce and restricted the state’s power in this regard.  

Seventh Amendment Act, 1956

Reasons: To implement the recommendations of the State Reorganization Committee and to implement the State Reorganization Act, 1956

1. Abolished the existing classification of states into four categories i.e., Part A, Part B, Part C and Part D states, and reorganised them into 14 states and 6 union territories.
2. Introduction of Union Territories
3. Extended the jurisdiction of high courts to union territories.
4. Provided for the establishment of a common high court for two or more states.
5. Provided for the appointment of additional and acting judges of the high court.

Eighth Amendment Act, 1960

• Extended the reservation of seats for the SCs and STs, and special representation for the Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies for a period of ten years (i.e., up to 1970).

Ninth Amendment Act, 1960

• Facilitated the cession of Indian territory of Berubari Union (located in West Bengal) to Pakistan as provided in the Indo-Pakistan Agreement (1958).

Eleventh Amendment Act, 1961

1. Changed the procedure of election of the vice-president by providing for an electoral college instead of a joint meeting of the two Houses of Parliament.
2. Provided that the election of the president or vice-president cannot be challenged on the ground of any vacancy in the appropriate electoral college.

Twelfth Amendment Act, 1962

• Incorporated Goa, Daman and Diu in the Indian Union.

Fourteenth Amendment Act, 1962  

1. Incorporated Puducherry in the Indian Union.
2. Provided for the creation of legislatures and council of ministers for the Union Territories of Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Goa, Daman and Diu, and Puducherry. 

Fifteenth Amendment Act, 1963

1. Enabled the high courts to issue writs to any person or authority even outside its territorial jurisdiction if the cause of action arises within its territorial limits.
2. Increased the retirement age of high court judges from 60 to 62 years.
3. Provided for appointment of retired judges of the high courts as acting judges of the same court and Supreme court.
4. Provided for the procedure for determining the age of the Supreme Court and high court judges.

Sixteenth Amendment Act, 1963

1. Empowered the state to impose further restriction on the rights to freedom of speech and expression, to assemble peaceably and to form associations in the interests of sovereignty and integrity of India.
2. Included sovereignty and integrity in the forms of oaths or affirmations to be subscribed by contestants to the legislatures, members of the legislatures, ministers, judges and CAG of India.

Seventeenth Amendment Act, 1964

1. Prohibited the acquisition of land under personal cultivation unless the market value of the land is paid as compensation.
2. Included 44 more Acts in the Ninth Schedule.

Eighteenth Amendment Act, 1966

1. Made it clear that the power of Parliament to form a new state also includes a power to form a new state or union territory by uniting a part of a state or a union territory to another state or union territory.
2. It created new states namely, Punjab and Haryana

Nineteenth Amendment Act, 1966

• Abolished the system of Election Tribunals and vested the power to hear election petitions in the High Courts.
• System of Election Tribunals was abolished and High Courts were given the power to hear the election petitions

Twentieth Amendment Act, 1966

• Validated certain appointments of district judges in the UP which were declared void by the Supreme Court.

Twenty-Third Amendment Act, 1969

• Extended the reservation of seats for the SCs and STs, and special representation for the Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies for a further period of ten years (i.e., up to 1980).

Twenty-Fourth Amendment Act, 1971

Reasons: Twenty Fourth Constitutional Amendment Act was brought in response to the Golaknath ruling (1967) of the Supreme Court which held that the Parliament does not have the power to take away any fundamental rights through amendment to the Constitution.

1. Affirmed the power of Parliament to amend any part of the Constitution including fundamental rights.
2. Made it compulsory for the president to give his assent to a Constitutional Amendment Bill.

Twenty-Fifth Amendment Act, 1971

1. Curtailed the fundamental right to property.
2. Provided that any law made to give effect to the Directive Principles contained in Article 39 (b) or (c) cannot be challenged on the ground of violation of the rights guaranteed by Articles 14, 19 and 31.

Twenty-Sixth Amendment Act, 1971

•  Abolished the privy purses and privileges of the former rulers of princely states.

Twenty-Seventh Amendment, 1971

1. Empowered the administrators of certain union territories to promulgate ordinances.
2. Authorised the Parliament to create the legislative assembly and the council of ministers for the new state of Manipur.

Twenty-Eighth Amendment Act, 1972

• Abolished the special privileges of ICS officers and empowered the Parliament to determine their service conditions.  

Thirtieth Amendment Act, 1972

• Did away with the provision which allowed appeal to the Supreme Court in civil cases involving an amount of ‘20,000, and provided instead that an appeal can be filed in the Supreme Court only if the case involves a substantial question of law.

Thirty-First Amendment Act, 1972

Reason: An increase in the population of India revealed in the Census of 1971.

• Increased the number of Lok Sabha seats from 525 to 545.

Thirty-Third Amendment Act, 1974

• Amended Articles 101 and 190 and Provided that the resignation of the members of Parliament and the state legislatures may be accepted by the Speaker/Chairman only if he is satisfied that the resignation is voluntary or genuine.

Thirty-Fifth Amendment Act, 1974

• Terminated the protectorate status of Sikkim and conferred on it the status of an associate state of the Indian Union.
• The Tenth Schedule was added laying down the terms and conditions of association of Sikkim with the Indian Union.

Thirty-Sixth Amendment Act, 1975

• Made Sikkim a full-fledged State of the Indian Union and omitted the Tenth Schedule.

Thirty-Eighth Amendment Act, 1975

1. Made the declaration of emergency by the president non-justiciable.
2. Made the promulgation of ordinances by the president, governors and administrators of union territories non-justiciable.
3. Empowered the president to declare different proclamations of national emergency on different grounds simultaneously.

Thirty-Ninth Amendment Act, 1975

Reasons: It was enacted in response to the ruling of the Allahabad High Court who declared the election of PM Indira Gandhi to Lok Sabha void on the petition of Raj Narain.

1. Placed the disputes relating to the president, vice-president, prime minister and Speaker beyond the scope of the judiciary. They are to be decided by such authority as may be determined by the Parliament.
2. Included certain Central acts in the Ninth Schedule.  

Fortieth Amendment Act, 1976

1. Empowered the Parliament to specify from time to time the limits of the territorial waters, the continental shelf, the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and the maritime zones of India.
2. Included 64 more Central and state laws, mostly relating to land reforms, in the Ninth Schedule.

Forty-First Amendment Act, 1976

• Raised the retirement age of members of State Public Service Commission and Joint Public Service Commission from 60 to 62.

Forty-Second Amendment Act, 1976 

• (The most comprehensive amendment made so far to the Constitution; it is known as “Mini-Constitution’; it gave effect to the recommendations of Swaran Singh Committee.)

1. Added three new words in the Preamble.

• Socialist,
• Secular and
• Integrity

2. Added Fundamental Duties by the citizens (new Part IV A).
3. Made the president bound by the advise of the cabinet.
4. Provided for administrative tribunals and tribunals for other matters (Added Part XIV A).
5. Froze the seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies on the basis of 1971 census till 2001.
6. Made the constitutional amendments beyond judicial scrutiny.
7. Curtailed the power of judicial review and writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and high courts.  
8. Raised the tenure of Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies from 5 to 6 years.
9.  Provided that the laws made for the implementation of Directive Principles cannot be declared invalid by the courts on the ground of violation of some Fundamental Rights.
10. Empowered the Parliament to make laws to deal with anti-national activities and such laws are to take precedence over Fundamental Rights.
11. Added three new Directive Principles viz.,

• Equal justice and free-legal aid,
• Participation of workers in the management of industries and
• Protection of environment, forests and wild life.

12. Facilitated the proclamation of national emergency in a part of territory of India.
13. Extended the one-time duration of the President’s rule in a state from 6 months to one year.
14. Empowered the Centre to deploy its armed forces in any state to deal with a grave situation of law and order.
15. Shifted five subjects from the state list to the concurrent list, viz,

• Education,
• Forests,
• Protection of wild animals and birds,
• Weights and measures and
• Administration of justice, constitution and organisation of all courts except the supreme Court and the high courts.

16. Did away with the requirement of quorum in the Parliament and the state legislatures.
17. Empowered the Parliament to decide from time to time the rights and privileges of its members and committees.
18. Provided for the creation of the All India Judicial Service.
19. Shortened the procedure for disciplinary action by taking away the right of a civil servant to make representation at the second stage after the inquiry (i.e., on the penalty proposed).

Forty-Third Amendment Act, 1977

(Enacted by the Janata Government to nullify some of the distortions introduced by the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976)

1. Restored the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the high courts in respect of judicial review and issue of writs.
2. Deprived the Parliament of its special powers to make laws to deal with anti-national activities.

Forty-Fourth Amendment Act, 1978

(Enacted by the Janata Government to nullify some of the distortions introduced by the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976)

1. Restored the original term of the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies (i.e., 5 years)
2. Restored the provisions with regard to quorum in the Parliament and state legislatures.
3. Omitted the reference to the British House of Commons in the provisions pertaining to the parliamentary privileges.
4. Gave constitutional protection to publication in newspaper of true reports of the proceedings of the Parliament and the state legislatures.
5. Empowered the president to send back once the advice of cabinet for reconsideration. But, the reconsidered advice is to be binding on the president.
6. Deleted the provision which made the satisfaction of the president, governor and administrators final in issuing ordinances.
7. Restored some of the powers of the Supreme Court and high courts.
8. Replaced the term “internal disturbance” by “armed rebellion” in respect of national emergency.
9. Made the President to declare a national emergency only on the written recommendation of the cabinet.
10. Made certain procedural safeguards with respect to national emergency and President’s rule.
11. Deleted the right to property from the list of Fundamental Rights and made it only a legal right.
12. Provided that the fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended during a national emergency.
13. Omitted the provisions which took away the power of the court to decide the election disputes of the president, the vice-president, the prime minister and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Forty-Eighth Amendment Act, 1984

• Facilitated the extension of President’s rule in Punjab beyond one year without meeting the two special conditions for such extension.   

Fiftieth Amendment Act, 1984

• Empowered the Parliament to restrict the Fundamental Rights of persons employed in intelligence organisations and telecommunication systems set up for the armed forces or intelligence organisations.

Fifty-Second Amendment Act, 1985

• (popularly known as Anti Defection Law) Provided for disqualification of members of Parliament and state legislatures on the ground of defection and added a new Tenth Schedule containing the details in this regard.
• Deciding Authority: Any question regarding disqualification arising out of defection is to be decided by the presiding officer of the House.

Fifty-Eighth Amendment Act, 1987

• Provided for an authoritative text of the Constitution in hindi language and gave the same legal sanctity to the Hindi version of the Constitution.

Fifty-Ninth Amendment Act, 1988

1. Facilitated the extension of President’s Rule in Punjab up to three years.
2. Provided for the declaration of national emergency in Punjab on the ground of internal disturbance.

Sixtieth Amendment Act, 1988

• Increased the ceiling of taxes on professions, trades, callings and employments from ‘250 per annum to ‘2,500 per annum.

Sixty-First Amendment Act, 1989

• Reduced the voting age from 21 years to 18 years for the Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly elections.

Sixty-Fifth Amendment Act, 1990

• Provided for the establishment of a multimember National Commission for SCs and STs in the place of a Special Officer for SCs and STs.

Sixty-Ninth Amendment Act, 1991

• Accorded a special status to the Union Territory of Delhi by designing it as the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The amendment also provided for the creation of a 70-member legislative assembly and a 7-member council of ministers for Delhi.

Seventieth Amendment Act, 1992

• Provided for the inclusion of the members of the Legislative Assemblies of National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry in the electoral college for the election of the president.

Seventy-First Amendment Act, 1992

• Included konkani, manipuri and nepali languages in the Eight Schedule. With this, the total number of scheduled languages increased to 18.

Seventy-Third Amendment Act, 1992

• Granted constitutional status and protection to the panchayati raj institutions. For this purpose, the Amendment has added a new Part-IX entitled as “the panchayats” and a new Eleventh Schedule containing 29 functional items of the panchayats.

Seventy-Fourth Amendment Act, 1992

• Granted constitutional status and protection to the urban local bodies. For this purpose, the Amendment has added a new Part IX-A entitled as “the municipalities” and a new Twelfth Schedule containing 18 functional items of the municipalities.

Seventy-Sixth Amendment Act, 1994

• Included the Tamil Nadu Reservation Act of 1994 (which provides for 69 per cent reservation of seats in educational institutions and posts in state services) in the Ninth Schedule to protect it from judicial review. In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that the total reservation should not exceed 50 per cent

Seventy-Seventh Amendment Act, 1995

• Provided for reservation in promotions in government jobs for SCs and STs. This amendment nullified the Supreme Court ruling with regard to reservation in promotions.

Eightieth Amendment Act, 2000

• Provided for an “alternative scheme of devolution” of revenue between the Centre and states. This was enacted on the basis of the recommendations of the Tenth Finance Commission which has recommended that out of the total income obtained from Central taxes and duties, twenty-nine per cent should be distributed among the states.

Eightieth Amendment Act, 2000

• Provided for an “alternative scheme of devolution” of revenue between the Centre and states. This was enacted on the basis of the recommendations of the Tenth Finance Commission which has recommended that out of the total income obtained from Central taxes and duties, twenty-nine per cent should be distributed among the states.

Eighty-First Amendment Act, 2000

• Empowered the state to consider the unfilled reserved vacancies of a year as a separate class of vacancies to be filled up in any succeeding year or years. Such class of vacancies are not to be combined with the vacancies of the year in which they are being filled up to determine the ceiling of 50 per cent reservation on total number of vacancies of that year. In brief, this amendment ended the 50 per cent ceiling on reservation in backlog vacancies.

Eighty-Second Amendment Act, 2000

• Provided for making of any provision in favour of the SCs and STs for relaxation in qualifying marks in any examination or lowering the standards of evaluation, for reservation in matters of promotion to the public services of the Centre and the states.

Eighty-Third Amendment Act, 2000

•  Provided that no reservation in panchayats need be made for SCs in Arunachal Pradesh. The total population of the state is tribal and there are no SCs. 

Eighty-Fourth Amendment Act, 2001

• Extended the ban on readjustment of seats in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies for another 25 years (i.e., up to 2026) with the same objective of encouraging population limiting measures. In other words, the number of seats in the Lok Sabha and the assemblies are to remain same till 2026. It also provided for the readjustment and rationalisation of territorial constituencies in the states on the basis of the population figures of 1991 census.

Eighty-Fifth Amendment Act, 2001

• Provided for “consequential seniority” in the case of promotion by virtue of rule of reservation for the government servants belonging to the SCs and STs with retrospective effect from June 1995.

Eighty-Sixth Amendment Act, 2002

1. Made elementary education a fundamental right. The newly-added Article 21-A declares that “the State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may determine”.
2. Changed the subject matter of Article 45 in Directive Principles. It now reads—“The State shall endeavour to provide early childhood care and education for all children until they complete the age of six years”.
3. Added a new fundamental duty under Article 51-A which reads—“It shall be the duty of every citizen of India who is a parent or guardian to provide opportunities for education to his child or ward between the age of six and fourteen years”.

Eighty-Seventh Amendment Act, 2003

• Provided for the readjustment and rationalisation of territorial constituencies in the states on the basis of the population figures of 2001 census and not 1991 census as provided earlier by the 84th Amendment Act of 2001.

Eighty-Eighth Amendment Act, 2003

• Made a provision for service tax. Taxes on services are levied by the Centre. But, their proceeds are collected as well as appropriated by both the Centre and the states in accordance with the principles formulated by parliament.   

Eighty-Ninth Amendment Act, 2003

• Bifurcated the erstwhile combined National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into two separate bodies, namely, National Commission for Scheduled Castes and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. Both the Commissions consist of a Chairperson, a ViceChairperson and three other members. They are appointed by the President.

Ninety-First Amendment Act, 2003

• Made the following provisions to limit the size of Council of Ministers, to debar defectors from holding public offices, and to strengthen the anti-defection law:

1. The total number of ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the Central Council of Ministers shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha.
2. A member of either house of Parliament belonging to any political party who is disqualified on the ground of defection shall also be disqualified to be appointed as a minister.
3. The total number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a state shall not exceed 15% of the total strength of the legislative Assembly of that state. But, the number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, in a state shall not be less than 12.
4. A member of either House of a state legislature belonging to any political party who is disqualified on the ground of defection shall also be disqualified to be appointed as a minister.
5. A member of either House of Parliament or either House of a State Legislature belonging to any political party who is disqualified on the ground of defection shall also be disqualified to hold any remunerative political post. The expression “remunerative political post” means
   1. any office under the central government or a state government where the salary or remuneration for such office is paid out of the public revenue of the concerned government; or
   2. any office under a body, whether incorporated or not, which is wholly or partially owned by the central government or a state government and the salary or remuneration for such office is paid by such body, except where such salary or remuneration paid is compensatory in nature.
6. The provision of the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) pertaining to exemption from disqualification in case of split by one-third members of legislature party has been deleted. It means that the defectors have no more protection on grounds of splits.

Ninety-Second Amendment Act, 2003

• Included four more languages in the Eighth Schedule. They are Bodo, Dogri (Dongri), Mathilli (Maithili) and Santhali. With this, the total number of constitutionally recognised languages increased to 22.

Ninety-Third Amendment Act, 2005

• Empowered the state to make special provisions for the socially and educationally backward classes or the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in educational institutions including private educational institutions (whether aided or unaided by the state), except the minority educational institutions.

Ninety-Fourth Amendment Act, 2006

• Freed Bihar from the obligation of having a tribal welfare minister and extended the same provision to Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. This provision will now be applicable to the two newly formed states and Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, where it has already been in force.   

Ninety-Fifth Amendment Act, 2009

• Extended the reservation of seats for the SCs and STs and special representation for the Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies for a further period of ten years i.e., upto 2020.

Ninety-Sixth Amendment Act, 2011

• Substituted “Odia” for “Oriya”. Consequently, the “Oriya” language in the Eighth Schedule shall be pronounced as “Odia”.

Ninety-Seventh Amendment Act, 2011

• Gave a constitutional status and protection to co-operative societies. In this context, it made the following three changes in the constitution:

1. It made the right to form co-operative societies a fundamental right.
2. It included a new Directive Principle of State Policy on the promotion of cooperative societies.
3. It added a new Part IX-B in the constitution which is entitled as “The Co-operative Societies”.

Ninety-Ninth Amendment Act, 2014

• Replaced the collegium system of appointing judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts with a new body called the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC). However, in 2015, the Supreme Court has declared this amendment act as unconstitutional and void. Consequently, the earlier collegium system became operative again.

One Hundredth Amendment Act, 2015

• Gave effect to the acquiring of certain territories by India and transfer of certain other territories to Bangladesh (through the exchange of enclaves and retention of adverse possessions) in pursuance of the Land Boundary Agreement of 1974 and its Protocol of 2011.
• For this purpose, this amendment act amended the provisions relating to the territories of four states (Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, and Tripura) in the First Schedule of the Constitution.
• amended the First Schedule for the purpose of giving effect to the
  acquiring of territories

One Hundred and First Amendment Act, 2016

• Paved the way for the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) regime in the country. The GST shall replace a number of indirect taxes being levied by the Union and the State Government. It is intended to remove the cascading effect of taxes and provide for a common national market for goods and services. The proposed Central and State GST will be levied on all transactions involving supply of goods and services, except those which are kept out of the purview of the GST. Accordingly, the amendment made the following provisions:

1. Conferred concurrent taxing powers upon the Parliament and the State Legislatures to makes laws for levying GST on every transaction of supply of goods or services or both.
2. Dispensed the concept of “declared goods of special importance” under the constitution.
3. Provided for the levy of Integrated GST on inter-state transactions of goods and services.
4. Provided for the establishment of a Goods and Services Tax Council by a presidential order.
5. Made the provision of compensation to the states for loss of revenue arising on account of introduction of GST for a period of five years.
6. Substituted and ommitted certain entries in the Union and State Lists of the Seventh Schedule.
7. It amended the articles 248, 249, 250, 268, 269, 270, 271, 286, 366 and 368.
8. Article 268A was omitted and new Articles 246A and 279A   were inserted

One Hundred and Second Amendment Act, 2018

1. Conferred a constitutional status on the National Commission for Backward Classes which was set-up in 1993 by an Act of the Parliament.
2. Relieved the National Commission for Scheduled Castes from its functions with regard to the backward classes.
3. Empowered the President to specify the socially and educationally backward classes in relation to a state or union territory.
4. Two new articles 338B and 342A along with clause 26C in
   article 366 that defines socially and educationally backward classes were
   inserted and article 340 has been omitted.

One Hundred and Third Amendment Act, 2019

1. Empowered the state to make any special provision for the advancement of any economically weaker sections of citizens.
2. Allowed the state to make a provision for the reservation of upto 10% of seats for such sections in admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the state, expect the minority educational institutions. This reservation of upto 10% would be in addition to the existing reservations.
3. Permitted the state to make a provision for the reservation of upto 10% of appointments or posts in favour of such sections.  
4. The amendment does not make such reservations mandatory in state government-run educational institutions or state government jobs.
5. It amended Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution