India - Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic
The Indian Union - 28 States and seven centrally administered Union Territories
Form of government - Parliamentary, based on universal adult franchise
Legislature - Parliament, consists of President and the two Houses, known as Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and Lok Sabha (House of the People )
Executive - Consists of President, Vice-President and Council of Ministers led by the Prime Minister
Judiciary - Independent of executive
Federal System
India, a union of states, is a Sovereign, Secular, Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of Government. The Indian polity is governed in terms of the Constitution, which was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950.
The President is the constitutional head of Executive of the Union. Real executive power vests in a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as head. Article 74(1) of the Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister to aid and advise the President who shall, in exercise of his functions, act in accordance with such advice. The Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha, the House of the People.
In the states, the Governor, as the representative of the President, is the head of Executive, but real executive power rests with the Chief Minister who heads the Council of Ministers. The Council of Ministers of a state is collectively responsible to the elected legislative assembly of the state.
The Constitution governs the sharing of legislative power between Parliament and the State Legislatures, and provides for the vesting of residual powers in Parliament. The power to amend the Constitution also vests in Parliament.
The Union Executive consists of the President, the Vice-President and Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President.
| National Flag india | National Anthem india | |
| THE NATIONAL FLAG OF INDIA is in tricolour ( TIRANGA) of deep saffron (Kesari) at the top, white in the middle and dark green at the bottom in equal propotions. | RabindranathTagore's songJana-gana-mana was adopted by the Constituent Assembly as the National Anthem of India on 24th Jan. 1950. The first stanza (out of 5 stanzas) of the song forms the National Anthem | |
| National Emblem india | National Song india | |
| The state emblem is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka. In the original, there are four lions, standing back to back, mounted on an abacus with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant. | The song Vande Mataram, composed in Sanskrit by Bankimchandra Chatterji, was a source of inspiration to the people in their struggle for freedom. | |
| National Calendar india | National Animal India | |
| At the time of independence, the Govt. of India followed the Gregorian calendar based on the Christian era. The National Government adopted the recommendation of the Calendar Re-form Committee that the Saka era be adopted as the basis of the National Calendar. | Tiger, the national animal of India, is a rich-colored well-striped animal with a short coat. The combination of grace, strength, power has earned the tiger great respect and high esteem. | |
| National Bird india | National Flower india | |
| Peacock is a large and National bird of India. It has got a long and beautiful tail. The main body of the cock is mottled brown in color. Especially, the metallic green color found on the lower neck is very attractive. | The flower Lotus is regarded with divinity and grace. Often, the Hindu Goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswathi are associated with the flower lotus. Even Lord Shiva, who wanted to escape the wrath of the Lord Saneeswaran, morphed himself into the shape of a bee and took asylum inside a lotus |