Background
From 1952 to 1966 Chandigarh was the capital of Punjab, and a Chief Commissioner headed its local administration.
When Punjab was divided, the Centre made Chandigarh a Union Territory under Section 4 of the Punjab Re-Organisation Act, 1966, with effect from November 1, 1966.
Its administration has since functioned directly under the Central Government.
Administrators designated "Chief Commissioner" were appointed up to May 31, 1984.
On June 1, 1984, the Governor of Punjab took over direct administration of the Union Territory as its Administrator, and the Chief Commissioner was redesignated "Adviser to the Administrator".
In January 2025 the Union Home Ministry redesignated the post of Adviser to the Administrator as "Chief Secretary".
The Governor's official residence, Lok Bhavan Punjab, is in Sector 6, Chandigarh.
Union Territory with effect from:
November 1, 1966
Legal basis:
Section 4, Punjab Re-Organisation Act, 1966
Governor of Punjab as Administrator since:
June 1, 1984
Capital of Punjab:
1952 to 1966
Adviser to the Administrator redesignated Chief Secretary:
January 2025
Why it matters for exams: The legal basis of Chandigarh's UT status and the Governor of Punjab's dual role as its Administrator are standard polity questions on Union Territories.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Union Territory Union Territory (UT) — A territory governed directly by the Centre through an Administrator appointed by the President.
Punjab Re-Organisation Act, 1966 Punjab Re-Organisation Act, 1966 — The Parliament law that divided Punjab and made Chandigarh a Union Territory under its Section 4.
Adviser to the Administrator Adviser to the Administrator, UT Chandigarh — The title given in 1984 to the post earlier called Chief Commissioner; in January 2025 the post was redesignated Chief Secretary.
Lok Bhavan Punjab Lok Bhavan Punjab — Official residence of the Governor of Punjab and Administrator of Chandigarh, in Sector 6.
16 October 2026
Dr Hilal bin Ali Al Sabti, Oman's Minister of Health, met Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Egypt's Minister of Health and Population, in Cairo. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean. The two ministers discussed strengthening bilateral cooperation in public health and health issues of common interest. They stressed continued coordination and the exchange of expertise, particularly in developing health human resources. They also discussed cooperation in advanced medical education and clinical training.
Oman's minister:
Dr Hilal bin Ali Al Sabti
Egypt's minister:
Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar
Occasion:
Sidelines of the 73rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean
Why it matters for exams: Bilateral meetings held on the margins of a numbered WHO regional session link two facts an examiner can combine.
Kerala PSCUPSC
16 October 2026
Oman's Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi visited Pakistan on 14 October 2026 for the eighth Pakistan-Oman Joint Ministerial Commission. He and Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar signed a protocol recording the minutes of the session. The two sides exchanged an agreement on mutual visa exemption for holders of diplomatic, special, official and service passports. They also exchanged memoranda of understanding on records and archives, on information and broadcasting, on information technology and telecommunication, and on news exchange and media cooperation. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif witnessed the signings.
Session:
Eighth Pakistan-Oman Joint Ministerial Commission
Date:
14 October 2026
Oman's signatory:
Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Albusaidi
Why it matters for exams: Named bilateral mechanisms and the documents they produce are standard international relations questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
JMC Joint Ministerial Commission — A standing ministerial body two countries use to review and expand their cooperation.
Service passport Service passport — A passport issued to government staff travelling on official duty, below diplomatic rank.
16 October 2026
The United Kingdom launched an update to its Arctic Policy Framework at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London on 15 October 2026, with Uma Kumaran, Minister for the Polar Regions, speaking at the launch. The update follows the earlier policy paper Looking North and is built on five priorities: understanding and responding to a changing Arctic, enhancing security and stability, supporting effective governance, building responsible economic partnerships and strengthening resilience. A Written Ministerial Statement on the framework was laid before Parliament. The Natural Environment Research Council has invested more than 145 million pounds in Arctic science since 2014, an initial 13 million pounds goes to Arctic Ocean research alongside the Research Council of Norway, and more than 4 million pounds over three years supports research partnerships, including with the Arctic Council and early-career Arctic researchers. The speech noted that Arctic winter sea ice in March 2025 reached the lowest annual maximum in the 47-year record.
Number of priorities:
five
Arctic science investment since 2014:
more than £145 million
Initial funding for Arctic Ocean research:
£13 million
Why it matters for exams: Polar policy items test which body governs the Arctic and what a non-Arctic state's role in it is.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Arctic Council Arctic Council — The intergovernmental forum of Arctic states that also admits observers.
NERC Natural Environment Research Council — The United Kingdom's public funder of environmental science.
16 October 2026
A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the Election Commission of India, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi on a writ petition filed by Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders. The petition, Rahul Gandhi v. Election Commission of India, W.P.(C) No. 1351/2026, seeks production of the complete file on the Commission's decision of June 24, 2025 to launch the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. It also asks for booth-wise publication of the names of deleted voters with reasons, a bar on deletion without notice and hearing, an audit committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, and suspension of the revision across all States while the case is pending. The Chief Justice orally remarked that the Court would also ask one of the petitioners about his conduct.
Case number:
W.P.(C) No. 1351/2026
Date of the decision challenged:
June 24, 2025
Chief Election Commissioner:
Gyanesh Kumar
Why it matters for exams: The case ties the Election Commission's revision of electoral rolls to Article 324 and to judicial review of its decision-making.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
SIR Special Intensive Revision — A house-to-house revision of electoral rolls ordered by the Election Commission.
Article 324 Article 324 of the Constitution of India — It vests superintendence, direction and control of elections in the Election Commission.
16 October 2026
A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed law enforcement agencies to preserve the CCTV footage and other digital material collected in connection with the Delhi protests, and permitted private parties to preserve such material as well. The bench asked Delhi Police to produce the prohibitory order passed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita before the protests. Notice was issued to the Union Government and Delhi Police on the batch of petitions, and both sides were asked to appoint nodal counsel to consolidate overlapping issues. The Court told the Bar not to file further petitions on the protests because 46 matters were already pending. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Union and Delhi authorities.
Provision on prohibitory orders:
Section 163, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita
Petitions already pending:
46
Why it matters for exams: The order shows how the Supreme Court handles a mass of petitions on the right to protest and which provision of the new criminal procedure code governs prohibitory orders.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
BNSS Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita — The criminal procedure law that replaced the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.
Nodal counsel Nodal counsel — A single lawyer appointed to coordinate several similar cases before a court.
16 October 2026
The Central Government has approved India's accession to the Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement (SIOFA). India has been a Cooperating Non-Contracting Party since 2022, with a limited say in the Scientific Committee and the Compliance Committee; as a Contracting Party it gains full participation and access to stock assessments. Indian-flagged vessels will be able to carry out authorised fishing of squid, toothfish, alfonsino and other non-migratory stocks in the SIOFA area. India will also take part in the High Seas Boarding and Inspection Scheme adopted by SIOFA. The release notes that the high seas make up about 65% of the global ocean and that Indian fishing vessels at present operate mostly within 60-80 nautical miles of the Exclusive Economic Zone.
Share of the global ocean that is high seas:
about 65%
Year India became a Cooperating Non-Contracting Party:
2022
Present operating range of Indian fishing vessels:
60-80 nautical miles
Why it matters for exams: Accession to a regional fisheries management organisation links India's blue economy push to international law of the sea, a standard question area.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
SIOFA Southern Indian Ocean Fisheries Agreement — A regional agreement that manages non-migratory fish stocks in the southern Indian Ocean high seas.
IUU fishing Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing — Fishing that breaks rules or goes unrecorded, which regional bodies try to curb.
16 October 2026
The Kerala Legal Metrology Department received seven new Bolero Neo vehicles.
Food, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Legal Metrology Minister Anoop Jacob flagged them off.
The event was held on the grounds of Kanakakunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram.
The vehicles are meant to strengthen the department's inspection and enforcement work and its consumer protection activity.
Controller Rajesh Sam, Additional Controller K. Sheelan and Joint Controller P. Srinivasa were among the officials present.
The department enforces the law on weights and measures used in trade in the State.
Vehicles handed over:
Seven Bolero Neo
Minister:
Anoop Jacob
Venue:
Kanakakunnu Palace grounds, Thiruvananthapuram
Why it matters for exams: The Legal Metrology Department's place under the Food and Civil Supplies portfolio, and its consumer protection role, are standard State administration questions.
Kerala PSC
In plain words
Legal metrology Law of weights and measures — The branch of law that governs the accuracy of weights, measures and packaged goods in trade.
16 October 2026
The trial in the murder of Abhimanyu began before Principal Sessions Judge K K Balakrishnan at the Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court.
All 16 accused appeared in matching clothing, caps, hairstyles and face coverings, and the judge ordered them to remove the masks, saying they could not appear before the court with their faces covered.
The judge warned that strict action would follow any attempt to alter their appearance at future hearings or during cross-examination.
Abhimanyu, a second-year BSc Chemistry student of Maharaja's College and a Students' Federation of India leader, was fatally stabbed on the campus on 2 July 2018.
Special Public Prosecutor G Mohanraj examined the first eyewitness, Subin, who identified several of the accused but said he could not identify three of them.
The trial follows a Kerala High Court direction in July to complete the proceedings within four months, given on a petition by Abhimanyu's mother Bhoopathy.
Witness examination is to continue on consecutive working days until 12 November.
Court:
Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court
Accused:
16
Date of the killing:
2 July 2018
Witness examination until:
12 November
Why it matters for exams: Campus political violence cases and the High Court's power to set a time limit for a trial are both examinable points.
Kerala PSC
In plain words
Special Public Prosecutor SPP — A lawyer appointed by the State to conduct the prosecution in a particular case.
Background
The Embassy of India in Muscat describes the Sultanate of Oman as a strategic partner of India and an important interlocutor at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Arab League and the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
The Omani Foreign Ministry's own list of its multilateral memberships records that Oman was a founding member of the GCC when it was established in 1981, became a member of the League of Arab States on 29 September 1971, became the 128th member of the United Nations on 7 October 1971, has been a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation since 1972 and joined the World Trade Organization in November 2000.
People-to-people contact between India and Oman is traced back 5,000 years; diplomatic relations were established in 1955, and the relationship was upgraded to a Strategic Partnership in 2008.
Oman hosts an Indian community of approximately 674,950 as of February 2026 according to the Government of Oman, of whom 526,496 hold work visas according to National Centre for Statistics and Information data.
Twenty-two Indian schools in Oman teach more than 48,000 students, and Indian social clubs in Muscat, Salalah, Sohar and Sur run linguistic wings for their members.
Oman is the only Gulf country with which all three of India's armed services hold joint exercises biennially: the navy exercise Naseem Al-Bahr, the air force exercise Eastern Bridge and the army exercise Al-Najah.
India has the highest number of defence memoranda of understanding with Oman of any country in West Asia, and the two sides meet in the Joint Military Cooperation Committee.
The India-Oman Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was signed during the Indian Prime Minister's visit of 17-18 December 2025 and entered into force on 1 June 2026; bilateral trade reached US$ 11.187 billion in FY 2025-26, with over 6,000 India-Oman joint ventures operating in Oman.
Diplomatic relations established:
1955
Strategic Partnership:
2008
Indian community:
approximately 674,950
Bilateral trade:
US$ 11.187 billion in FY 2025-26
UN membership:
128th member, 7 October 1971
Why it matters for exams: Kerala's candidates are asked about the Gulf states where Kerala's migrants work, and the 1955 date, the three service exercises and the trade agreement are the standard India-Oman questions.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
CEPA Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement — A wide trade agreement covering goods, services and investment.
IORA Indian Ocean Rim Association — The grouping of countries on the rim of the Indian Ocean.
GCC Gulf Cooperation Council — The six-member council of Arab states of the Gulf, of which Oman is a founding member.
Background
Oman is situated in the south-eastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula.
It is surrounded by the sea on two sides: the Sea of Oman to the north-east, and the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean to the south-east.
From Musandam it overlooks the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to the Gulf.
It has land borders with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the west, the Republic of Yemen to the south and the United Arab Emirates to the north.
The Foreign Ministry describes Oman as the third largest country on the Arabian Peninsula, with a total area of 309,500 square kilometres, much of its interior lying in the desert wilderness known as the Rub' al Khali or Empty Quarter.
In the Hajar Mountains, Jabal Shams, at around 3,000 metres, is the highest peak in the Arabian Peninsula, and Jabal Akhdar is the Green Mountain.
The Governorate of Musandam, separated from the rest of the Sultanate by a strip of United Arab Emirates land, covers about 1,800 square kilometres with a population of 56,279 and has Khasab as its main town; its fjords have earned it the name 'Norway of Arabia'.
Oman encompasses 11 Governorates, each divided into provinces called Wilayats, and the southern Governorate of Dhofar is made green by seasonal monsoon winds around the port city of Salalah.
Land neighbours:
Saudi Arabia (west), Yemen (south), United Arab Emirates (north)
Seas:
Sea of Oman; Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean
Strait overlooked:
Strait of Hormuz, from Musandam
Highest peak:
Jabal Shams, around 3,000 m
Governorates:
11
Why it matters for exams: Oman's three neighbours and its command of the Strait of Hormuz are asked whenever Gulf shipping is in the news.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Musandam — Oman's northern governorate, cut off from the rest of the country by UAE territory.
Rub' al Khali The Empty Quarter — The great sand desert of the Arabian Peninsula.
Wilayat — A province within an Omani governorate.
Background
The Basic Statute of the State is Oman's constitution and represents the highest legislative authority in the Sultanate, regulating all the institutions of the State and their relations with citizens and residents.
It decrees that His Majesty the Sultan is Head of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the symbol of national unity and its guardian.
Under the Basic Statute the Council of Ministers assists the Sultan in formulating State policy and is entrusted with its implementation.
The Basic Statute makes 'Shura' — a system of participation and consultation rooted in Omani tradition — the founding principle of Omani political life.
It therefore establishes the Council of Oman (Majlis Oman) as the body competent to pass or amend laws.
The Council of Oman has two chambers: the Shura Council (Majlis A’Shura), which is directly elected, and the State Council (Majlis A’Dawla), which is appointed by Royal Decree.
The Council of Oman also discusses development plans and the state budget, besides other powers set out in law.
The Basic Statute stipulates that the rule of law shall be the basis of governance, that the judiciary shall be independent, and that a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a trial in which the right of defence is guaranteed.
Constitution:
the Basic Statute of the State
Head of State:
the Sultan, also Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces
Legislature:
Council of Oman (Majlis Oman), two chambers
Directly elected chamber:
Shura Council (Majlis A’Shura)
Why it matters for exams: The two chambers of the Council of Oman, one elected and one appointed, are exactly the kind of contrast an examiner asks about.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Shura — Consultation; in Oman the constitutional principle of participation in decisions.
Majlis Oman Council of Oman — Oman's two-chamber legislature, competent to pass or amend laws.
Royal Decree — An order issued by the Sultan, which in Oman has the force of law.
Background
The official name of the country is the Sultanate of Oman and its capital is Muscat.
Its currency is the Omani Rial and its official language is Arabic, with widespread use of English.
Islam is the religion of the country.
Its form of government is a hereditary monarchy, and the Foreign Ministry names its constitution as the Basic Law of the State 1996.
The head of state is His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, who ascended the throne on 11 January 2020 after the passing of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who had ruled Oman from 1970 to 2020.
Like his predecessor, Sultan Haitham belongs to the Al Bu Said dynasty, which has ruled Oman since the eighteenth century.
Oman's population is 5,442,883 and its area is 309,500 sq km (120,000 sq miles).
The country keeps UTC +4 time and its international dialling code is +968.
Capital:
Muscat
Currency:
Omani Rial
Official language:
Arabic, with widespread use of English
Population:
5,442,883
Area:
309,500 sq km (120,000 sq miles)
Time zone:
UTC +4
Why it matters for exams: Capital, currency, language and form of government are the first four things any paper asks about a Gulf country.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Sultanate — A state ruled by a sultan, here a hereditary monarchy.
Omani Rial OMR — The currency of the Sultanate of Oman, written OMR.
Al Bu Said — The dynasty that has ruled Oman since the eighteenth century.
Basic Law of the State — Oman's constitution, which the Foreign Ministry also calls the Basic Statute of the State.
Background
The International Criminal Court investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community.
Those crimes are four: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
The Court is governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute and is the world's first permanent international criminal court.
It is a court of last resort: it seeks to complement, not to replace, national courts.
It tries individuals, which distinguishes it from a court that hears claims between States.
The Rome Statute grants victims rights to participate in the Court's proceedings, and the Court holds two-way dialogue with the communities affected by crimes under its jurisdiction.
Its headquarters are at The Hague in the Netherlands, and over 900 staff from approximately 100 States work there.
Governing treaty:
Rome Statute
Crimes in its jurisdiction:
genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, aggression
Headquarters:
The Hague, the Netherlands
Staff:
over 900, from approximately 100 States
Why it matters for exams: The four crimes, the Rome Statute and the difference from a court of States are asked in almost every international relations paper.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Rome Statute — The treaty that created the International Criminal Court and defines the crimes it may try.
Court of last resort — A court that acts only where national courts do not.
Background
Disputes over offshore oil projects and seabed mining are argued today under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the globally recognised regime for all matters relating to the law of the sea.
The Convention was opened for signature on 10 December 1982 at Montego Bay, Jamaica, after more than 14 years of work involving more than 150 countries.
It entered into force on 16 November 1994, twelve months after the sixtieth instrument of ratification or accession was deposited.
Coastal States exercise sovereignty over a territorial sea whose breadth may not exceed 12 nautical miles, and foreign vessels enjoy innocent passage through those waters.
Ships and aircraft of all countries are allowed transit passage through straits used for international navigation.
Coastal States have sovereign rights in a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone over natural resources, while all other States keep freedom of navigation and overflight and the freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines there.
The continental shelf may extend at least 200 nautical miles, and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf recommends outer boundaries beyond that.
Disputes may be taken to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, to the International Court of Justice or to arbitration, and the Tribunal has exclusive jurisdiction over deep seabed mining disputes.
Territorial sea:
up to 12 nautical miles
Exclusive economic zone:
200 nautical miles
Opened for signature:
10 December 1982, Montego Bay
Entered into force:
16 November 1994
Why it matters for exams: The twelve-nautical-mile and two-hundred-nautical-mile limits and the Tribunal's role are standard questions whenever a maritime dispute is in the news.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone — The 200-nautical-mile belt in which a coastal State has sovereign rights over natural resources.
Innocent passage — The right of a foreign ship to pass through another State's territorial sea without threatening it.
ITLOS International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea — The court created by the Convention, seated at Hamburg, for law of the sea disputes.
Background
Every sanctions renewal and every mandate extension the Security Council votes on is decided under Article 27 of the United Nations Charter.
The Council has fifteen members in all: five permanent members and ten non-permanent members elected for two-year terms by the General Assembly.
The permanent members are China, France, the Russian Federation (which succeeded the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics), the United Kingdom and the United States.
Each member of the Council has one vote.
Decisions on procedural matters are made by an affirmative vote of nine members.
Decisions on all other matters need an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members — the basis of the right of veto.
If any one permanent member casts a negative vote, the resolution is not approved; a permanent member that does not wish to veto may abstain instead, letting the resolution pass if it still has nine favourable votes.
Under Chapter VI of the Charter, a party to a dispute must abstain from voting on it.
Total members:
15
Permanent members:
5
Non-permanent members:
10, two-year terms
Affirmative votes needed:
9
Why it matters for exams: The Council's composition and its nine-vote rule are among the most frequently asked facts on the United Nations system.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Veto Right of veto — The power of a permanent member of the Security Council to block a decision by voting against it.
Article 27 Article 27 of the UN Charter — The Charter provision that lays down how the Security Council votes.
Abstention — Choosing not to vote either way, which does not block a resolution.
Background
The President appointed six Governors in a single round this week; the appointment of Governors, and nominations to the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, are handled by one division of the Union Government.
The Centre State Division of the Ministry of Home Affairs deals with Centre-State relations, including the working of the constitutional provisions governing such relations.
Its listed subjects are the appointment of Governors, the creation of new States, nominations to the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, inter-State boundary disputes, over-seeing the crime situation in States and the imposition of President's Rule.
The Acts it administers include the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, which redrew the map of India on linguistic lines, and the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
The Governors (Emoluments, Allowances and Privileges) Act, 1982 and its 2014 amendment are also held by this division, along with the President's (Emoluments and) Pension Act, 1951.
The Inter-State Council Secretariat and the National Crime Records Bureau are listed among the organisations under the division.
Ministry:
Ministry of Home Affairs
Division:
Centre State Division
Reorganisation Act held:
The States Reorganisation Act, 1956
Governors' service law:
The Governors (Emoluments, Allowances and Privileges) Act, 1982
Organisations listed:
Inter-State Council Secretariat; National Crime Records Bureau
Why it matters for exams: Questions on who processes a Governor's appointment, a new State or President's Rule are answered by naming this division and the Acts it holds.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
President's Rule — Central administration of a State when its constitutional machinery is held to have failed.
Inter-State Council — A body for consultation between the Union and the States, whose secretariat works under the Home Ministry.
NCRB National Crime Records Bureau — The central agency that compiles India's crime statistics.
Background
The Supreme Court has been in the news through this week for a run of orders, and the Court's own description of its powers explains where each of them comes from.
The Supreme Court has original, appellate and advisory jurisdiction.
Its exclusive original jurisdiction extends to disputes between the Government of India and one or more States, or between two or more States, where the dispute involves a question on which the existence or extent of a legal right depends.
Article 32 gives it a further original jurisdiction for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights, under which it may issue directions, orders or writs including habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, quo warranto and certiorari.
Appeals come by a certificate of the High Court under Article 132(1), 133(1) or 134, and the Court may in its discretion grant special leave to appeal under Article 136 from any judgment or order of any court or tribunal in the territory of India.
Its advisory jurisdiction is exercised on a reference made by the President of India under Article 143.
Under Articles 129 and 142 the Court is vested with the power to punish for contempt of court, including contempt of itself, and Order XLVIII of the Supreme Court Rules allows a curative petition on limited grounds after a review petition is dismissed.
In public interest litigation the Court has treated letters, telegrams, postcards and news reports as writ petitions, a judicial innovation the Court describes as unique to itself; the High Court stands at the head of a State's judicial administration, and there are twenty-five High Courts in the country.
Jurisdictions:
Original, appellate and advisory
Fundamental Rights jurisdiction:
Article 32
Special leave to appeal:
Article 136
Advisory reference by the President:
Article 143
Contempt power:
Articles 129 and 142
High Courts in the country:
25
Why it matters for exams: Matching Articles 32, 136 and 143 to the right jurisdiction, and naming the five writs, is standard examination work in polity.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
SLP Special leave petition — A petition asking the Supreme Court to use its discretion under Article 136 to hear an appeal.
Curative petition — A last remedy allowing the Court to reconsider a final order on limited grounds after a review is dismissed.
PIL Public interest litigation — A petition filed by a public-spirited person in a matter affecting the public at large.
Background
State finances were in the news this week as the States offered thousands of crores of securities in a Reserve Bank auction; the share of central taxes those States receive is recommended by a constitutional commission.
Under clause (1) of Article 280 of the Constitution, the Finance Commission is to be constituted every fifth year or earlier.
A Commission normally takes about two years to make its recommendations, and the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance Commission covered a six-year period up to 31st March 2026.
Its terms of reference cover the distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes divisible between them under Chapter I, Part XII of the Constitution, and the allocation of the States' respective shares.
It also covers the principles governing grants-in-aid of the revenues of the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India under Article 275.
The third head is the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and Municipalities, on the basis of the recommendations made by that State's own Finance Commission.
The Sixteenth Finance Commission is chaired by Dr. Arvind Panagariya, and its Advance Cell was formed in the Ministry of Finance on 21.11.2022.
Constitutional provision:
Article 280, clause (1)
Interval:
Every fifth year or earlier
Grants-in-aid article:
Article 275
Fifteenth Commission's award period:
Six years, up to 31st March 2026
Advance Cell of the Sixteenth Commission:
Formed on 21.11.2022
Why it matters for exams: Article 280, the five-year cycle and the three heads of the terms of reference are among the most frequently asked facts on fiscal federalism.
Kerala PSCUPSCSSC
In plain words
Devolution — The share of the divisible pool of central taxes passed on to the States.
Grants-in-aid — Transfers from the Consolidated Fund of India to a State's revenues under Article 275.
Terms of reference — The questions the Union Government asks a commission to answer.
Background
The Competition Commission of India cleared a jewellery group's acquisition of a majority stake in another listed jeweller this week; such clearances are given under the law described here.
The Competition Act, 2002 was passed by Parliament in 2002 and the President accorded assent in January 2003.
It was subsequently amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007, and in accordance with that amendment the Competition Commission of India and the Competition Appellate Tribunal were established.
The Commission is fully functional with a Chairperson and six members.
The provisions of the Act relating to anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position were notified on May 20, 2009.
The Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 was published in the Gazette of India on 11th April, 2023.
A merger or acquisition above the thresholds in the Act is notified to the Commission as a combination, and the Commission's order under Section 31 permits, modifies or blocks it.
Parent Act:
The Competition Act, 2002
President's assent:
January 2003
Composition:
Chairperson and six members
Key provisions notified:
May 20, 2009
Latest amendment gazetted:
11th April, 2023
Why it matters for exams: The Commission's composition, the year of assent and the appellate route are repeat questions wherever economic regulators are examined.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
CCI Competition Commission of India — The statutory authority that enforces competition law and clears large mergers.
Combination — A merger, amalgamation or acquisition that crosses the thresholds in the Competition Act and must be notified to the Commission.
Abuse of dominant position — Conduct by which an enterprise with market power harms competition or consumers.