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The overhaul of India’s criminal justice system marks a shift from colonial-era punitive deterrence to a citizen-centric, technology-driven justice model. Effective July 1, 2024, three new legislations replaced the earlier legal frameworks:

Regulatory Governance and Independent Statutory Bodies form the backbone of the General Studies Paper-II (Polity and Governance) and
Public Administration syllabi.

In a post-1991 liberalised market economy, the role of the state shifted from being a direct provider/controller to a facilitator and regulator.
This gave rise to a “regulatory state” where expert, arm’s-length bodies manage complex sectors.

1. India’s first Public Service Commission was constituted on 1 October 1926 under the Public Service Commission (Functions) Rules, 1926,
framed under Sections 96B and 96C of the Government of India Act, 1919; Sir Ross Barker became its first Chairman, assisted by four
Members, and the Commission functioned from Metcalfe House, Delhi.

2. Competitive entry into the Indian Civil Service (ICS) began in 1855 in London, replacing the East India Company’s nomination system;
Satyendranath Tagore cleared the examination in 1863 and joined the service in 1864 as the first Indian ICS officer, while by 1919 only 78 of
1,255 ICS officers were Indian.

India’s border management and two-front threat strategy involves upgrading physical and technological infrastructure along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan and the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, supported by a ₹13,020 crore Central Sector Umbrella Scheme for 2021–26 under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

1. India’s indigenous supercomputing journey began with PARAM 8000, developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and unveiled in 1991 with a computing speed of 1 gigaflop; the PARAM series later included systems such as PARAM Yuva with a capacity of 54 teraflops.

2. The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) was launched in April 2015 with an outlay of about ₹4,500 crore to strengthen India’s High-Performance Computing (HPC) capabilities and build self-reliance in supercomputing.

Overview of Project Mausam

Project Mausam is a flagship cultural diplomacy and maritime heritage initiative launched by the Ministry of Culture in June 2014 during the 38th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

Theaterisation of the Indian Armed Forces is the most ambitious structural military reform in India since Independence. It involves integrating
the capabilities and assets of the Army, Navy, and Air Force under unified geographical commands led by a single commander.

Civil Services Reforms in India aim to transform the traditional, rule-bound bureaucracy into a citizen-centric, agile, and technology-driven administrative setup. As the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) marks its centenary in October 2026, the focus has heavily shifted from purely selecting candidates to ensuring structural accountability, specialized talent infusion, and “time certainty” in recruitment.

PM Gati Shakti and the National Logistics Policy (NLP) function as “double engines” driving India’s structural transformation in infrastructure and supply chain efficiency. While PM Gati Shakti serves as the National Master Plan for physical, multi-modal infrastructure planning, the National Logistics Policy provides the soft infrastructure, policy framework, and digital ecosystem required to optimize operations and slash costs.

The Anti-Defection Law was introduced into the Constitution of India to address political instability caused by legislators frequently changing political parties for opportunistic reasons (famously colloquially termed the “Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram” culture).

Constitutional Origin & Amendments