IMPORTANT POSTS / INSTITUTIONS OF INDIA
Attorney General
Attorney General is the first law officer of the country and the legal advisor to the government. He is appointed by the President of India under Article 76 of the Indian Constitution. He serves office at the pleasure of the President. The first Attorney General of India was M. C. Setalvad. The current (15th) Attorney General is K K Venugopal. The qualification for appointment as an Attorney General is same as eligibility for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court.
Solicitor General
Solicitor General is the second law officer of the country. It is not a constitutional post but a statutory one. The first Solicitor General of India was C. K. Daphtary and the current Solicitor General is Ranjith Kumar.
Comptroller and Auditor General
Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is the auditor of the government. He is appointed by the President on recommendation of the Prime Minister under Article 148 of the Constitution. He holds office for a 6 year term or till the age of retirement, whichever is earlier. The first CAG of India was Narahari Rao and the Present CAG is Rajiv Mehrishi.
National Legal Services Authority (NALSA)
National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) is established under the Legal Services Authorities Act 1987 to provide free legal aid to people who cannot afford legal services and to conduct Lok Adalats for speedier justice. The seniormost judge of the Supreme Court, after the Chief Justice of India, becomes the Chairman of NALSA. The first Chairman of NALSAR was Justice SP Bharucha.
Central Vigilance Commission
Central Vigilance Commission was established as a one-member body to address government corruption. It was established on the recommendation of the Santhanam Committee. Currently, the Commission comprises of one Chief Vigilance Commissioners and two other commissioners. N Srinivas Rao was the first Chief Vigilance Commissioner of India. The present Chief Vigilance Commissioner is K V Chowdhary.
Finance Commission
Finance Commission is constituted under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution. The tenure of a Finance Commission is 5 years. The first Finance Commission was constituted in 1951 with K C Neogy as the Chairman. The current Finance Commission is the 14th Finance Commission for the term 2015-2020. The Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission is N K Singh.
Law Commission
Law Commissions are constituted by the Government from time to time to recommend legislative reforms and clarify and consolidate a branch of law which the government feels is necessary.
The first Law Commission of India was chaired by Lord MaCaulay. The first Law Commission of Independent India was established in 1955 with the then Attorney General, M.C Setalvad as the Chairman. The 20th Law Commission submitted its report in 2015. Justice D.K Jain and Justice A.P Shah served as the Chairman of the 20th Law Commission. The 21st Law Commission has been constituted in September 2015 for a term of three years.
Planning Commission
Planning Commission was set up in March, 1950 through a Cabinet Resolution. It was responsible for preparing the Five Year plans in India with the first five year plan being launched in 1951. However, with effect from 1 January 2015, Planning Commission has been replaced by NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India). The institution will serve as a ‘Think Tank’ of the Government. The Prime Minister is the Chairman of NITI Aayog. The Prime Minister is responsible for choosing a Vice-Chairman. As of January 2018, Dr. Rajiv Kumar has been appointed as the Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog and Amitabh Kant is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NITI Aayog.
Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
FSSAI has been constituted under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006. As on January 2018, the Chairman of FSSAI is Preeti Sudan. Pawan Kumar Agarwal has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FSSAI.
National Green Tribunal
National Green Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body created under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 to adjudicate on environment cases. The tribunal comprises of both judicial and expert members. The National Green Tribunal has 5 benches across India (4 + 1 principal bench in New Delhi)
The First Chairperson of NGT was Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta and the present Chairperson is Justice Swatanter Kumar.
DEFENCE
Indian armed forces consist of three services – Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. The President is the Supreme Commander of Indian Armed Forces. The armed forces are supported by paramilitary forces like Assam Rifles, Indian Coast Guard, Special Front Force. Indian Armed Forces and Paramilitary forces come under the Ministry of Defense. Assam Rifles is the oldest paramilitary force in India.
Additionally, India also has central armed police forces such as Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF), Indo- Tibetan Border Police, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). These fall under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) was formed in 1958 with the amalgamation of the Technical Development Establishment (TDE) of the Indian Army and the Directorate of Technical Development & Production (DTDP) with the Defence Science Organization (DSO) to undertake research and development in the field of defence.
DRDO launched the Integrated Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) in 1982 with Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam as the Chairman. Many missiles like Agni, Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag an Astra have been developed under this programme. Some other notable initiatives of India are -
| INS Arihant |
India’s first nuclear powered submarine |
| INS Vikrant |
India’s first aircraft carrier |
| Mareech |
Advanced Torpedo Defence System – developed by DRDO |
| BrahMos |
India’s super-sonic cruise missile developed in joint venture with Russia. |
- December 4 is observed as Navy Day in India
- January 15 – National Army Day
- October 8 – National Air Force Day
SPACE
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) was set up in 1969 with headquarters in Bangalore. Vikram Sarabhai is popularly known as the father of Indian Space Programme. He played an important role in establishment of ISRO. Satish Dhawan was the Chairman of ISRO after whom the Satish Dhawan Space Centre has been named. It is located in Sriharikota.
Major Space Programmes of India
1975 - Indian launched its first experimental satellite, Aryabhatta.
1978 – India launched Bhaskara –I to collect information on India’s land, water, forest and ocean resources.
2008 - Indian successfully launched Chandrayana -1 into the Moon’s orbit on India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). It is an unmanned space mission to carry out the physical and chemical mapping of the moon.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Various kinds of sciences
| Science |
Subject |
| Acoustics |
Study of sound waves |
| Botany |
Study of plants |
| Anatomy |
Study of structure of animal/ human body |
| Ornithology |
Study of birds |
| Entomology |
Study of insects |
| Etymology |
Study of the origin and history of words |
| Virology |
Study of viruses |
| Zoology |
Study of animal life |
| Mycology |
Study of fungi and fungal diseases |
| Seismology |
Study of earthquakes |
| Histology |
Study of issues |
| Orology |
Study of mountains |
| Cytology |
Study of structure and functions of cells |
