WBCS Examination Preperation : Political Science

Dear Aspirants,

As all of you know that Political Science forms an integral part of the WBCS examination, we have mentioned below some of the must know facts from the subject of Political Science

The date of adoption of the Constitution of India is 26th November, 1949. But most of the articles in Constitution came into force on January 26th, 1950. Those articles which came into existence on 26th Novemeber 1949 is given by Article 394.

Article 394 states that this article (394) and articles 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 60, 324, 366, 367, 379, 380, 388, 391, 392 and 393 shall come into force at once, and the remaining provisions of this Constitution shall come into force on the twenty-sixth day of January, 1950, which day is referred to in this Constitution as the commencement of this Constitution.

Part I of the Indian Constitution is titled The Union and its Territory. It includes articles from 1- 4. Part I is a compilation of laws pertaining to the constitution of India as a country and the union of states that it is made of. This part of the constitution contains the law in the establishment, renaming, merging or altering the borders of the states. Articles under Part I were invoked when West Bengal was renamed, and for formation of relatively new states such as Jharkhand,Chattisgarh or Telengana.

Info-bits related to Part I : The Union and the territory (Articles 1- 4)

Article under which Sikkim was made part of Indian Union : Article 2a.
Article under which Telangana was made part of Indian Union : Article 3.
Article 3 original provision was amended by Constitution (fifth amendment) Act, 1955 on 24 December 1955.
No where under Part I, it is mentioned that India is a federal state. It rather uses the phrase “Union of States”.
The territorial waters and the exclusive economic zones shall also become part of the states or union territories in the absence of any listing of them separately in Schedule 1 and 4 of the constitution.

Important Dates

1th December 1946 – The Assembly elected Dr. Rajendra Prasad as its permanent Chairman
22nd July 1947 – The Constituent Assembly adopted the national flag.
26th November 1949 – Indian constitution was adopted by the Constituent Assembly.
24th January 1950 – The Constituent Assembly adopted the national anthem on.
24th January 1950 – The Constituent Assembly adopted the national song on.
26th January 1950 – The Indian Constitution came into effect.

Schedule of the Indian Constitution

When you are reading the Schedules, you will find great difficulty in remembering the numbers. Even the cross-referencing can be difficult at times. Here, you need to prepare mnemonics in your own way to remember important sections of the Schedules. One of the Important mnemonic to remember the seven Union Territories of India.

Delhi
Andaman
Lakshadweep
Dadra
Daman
Pondicherry
Chandigarh

In a similar manner, you can also memorize the fundamental rights and duties of an Indian citizen. When you are creating such mnemonics, make sure that there is a little bit of humor and relevance. Most Indian Constitution Facts can be remembered using mnemonics.

Indian Constitution Facts – Important Points

The original Constitution of India was written by Prem Behari Narain Raizada in a flowing italic style with beautiful calligraphy. Each page was carved and decorated by artists from Shantiniketan.
The Indian Constitution is the longest written Constitution of any sovereign country in the world with 25 parts containing 448 articles and 12 schedules.
When the draft was prepared and put for debate and discussion. A total of 2000 amendments were made before it was finalized.
The handwritten Constitution was signed on 24th January 1950. It was signed by 284 members of the Constituent Assembly including 15 women. It came into force two days later on 26th January.
The concept of Five Year Plans (FYP) was derived from the USSR while the Directive Principles from Ireland.
The Preamble to our Constitution was inspired by the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America, which starts with the sentence “We the people”.
The Indian Constitution is considered as one of the world’s best Constitution. This is due to the reason that in 62 years of its adoption, it had been amended only 94 times.
The original copies of the Indian Constitution, written in Hindi and English, are kept in special helium-filled cases in the Library which is located in the Parliament of India.
The Constituent Assembly took precisely 2 years, 11 months and 18 days to come up with the final draft. This led to the formation of the Indian Constitution.
The drafting of the Constitution was finally complete on 26th November 1949. But, it was legally enforced only after two months on 26th January 1950. This came to be known as the Republic Day.
The ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity in our Preamble have been taken from the French motto.
The fundamental rights recognized by our Constitution have also been adopted from the American Constitution. The Indian Constitution recognizes nine fundamental rights as the basic human rights of all its citizens.