UPSC Topics

The UPSC.wiki knowledge graph — every key article, scheme, commission and concept, linked to the study material, current affairs and questions that reference it.

Constitutional Articles

Article 246 Article 21Guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, judicially expanded to cover dignity, privacy and a clean environment.Article 51A Article 48A Article 19Protects six freedoms including speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence and profession.Article 51 Article 253 Article 73 Article 39 Article 53 Article 14Guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the laws to all persons within India.Article 48 Article 368 Article 32The right to constitutional remedies — lets a person move the Supreme Court directly to enforce fundamental rights. Called the "heart and soul" of the Constitution by Ambedkar.Article 46 Article 124Constitutional provision establishing the Supreme Court of India, providing for the appointment of judges by the President, and permitting Parliament to prescribe a larger number of judges than the constitutional minimum.Article 136 Article 142 Article 15 Article 17 Article 21A Article 301 Article 44 Article 112 Article 123 Article 25 Article 43 Article 45 Article 356Provides for President's Rule in a state when its constitutional machinery fails.Article 38 Article 16 Article 226Empowers High Courts to issue writs for enforcement of fundamental rights and for any other purpose — wider than Article 32.Article 3 Article 352 Article 4 Article 47 Article 131 Article 26 Article 265 Article 50 Article 77 Article 8 Article 9 Article 143 Article 2 Article 231 Article 30 Article 300A Article 326 Article 370Conferred special autonomous status on Jammu and Kashmir; effectively abrogated in August 2019.Article 6 Article 74 Article 75 Article 110 Article 111 Article 129 Article 145 Article 239 Article 240 Article 311 Article 5 Article 1 Article 215 Article 22 Article 291 Article 309 Article 335 Article 40 Article 10 Article 11 Article 121 Article 13 Article 239A Article 241 Article 323 Article 43B Article 54 Article 7 Article 80 Article 81

Concepts

Directive Principles of State PolicyNon-justiciable guidelines in Part IV that the State should apply in making laws to secure social and economic justice.Fundamental RightsThe justiciable rights in Part III of the Constitution (Articles 12–35) that protect individuals against state action.Basic Structure DoctrineJudicial doctrine (Kesavananda Bharati, 1973) that Parliament cannot amend the essential features of the Constitution.Repo rateThe interest rate at which the Reserve Bank of India lends short-term funds to commercial banks against government securities; the principal instrument of monetary policy under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility.Preamble to the Constitution of IndiaThe introductory statement setting out the guiding purpose and principles — sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.Collegium systemThe mechanism, evolved through the Three Judges Cases (1993, 1998), by which the Chief Justice of India and senior-most Supreme Court judges recommend appointments and transfers of judges to the higher judiciary.Live-streaming of court proceedingsThe broadcast of judicial hearings of constitutional and national importance, recognised in Swapnil Tripathi v. Supreme Court of India (2018) as part of the right of access to justice; governed by the Supreme Court e-Committee Model Rules (2021).Open justiceThe principle that judicial proceedings must be conducted transparently and be open to public scrutiny, affirmed in Naresh Shridhar Mirajkar v. State of Maharashtra (1967).

Institutions & Bodies

Union Public Service CommissionThe central constitutional recruitment agency (Article 315) that conducts the Civil Services Examination.Reserve Bank of IndiaIndia's central bank, responsible for monetary policy, currency issuance and banking regulation.NITI AayogThe government think-tank that replaced the Planning Commission in 2015 as the apex public-policy body.Finance CommissionA constitutional body (Article 280) constituted every five years to recommend the distribution of tax revenue between the Union and the states.Monetary Policy CommitteeA six-member committee constituted under Section 45ZB of the RBI Act, 1934, chaired by the RBI Governor, that sets the policy repo rate to achieve the flexible inflation target of 4% (+/- 2%).Election Commission of IndiaThe autonomous constitutional body administering elections to Parliament, state legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President.GST CouncilThe constitutional (Article 279A) federal body that decides GST rates, exemptions and rules.Comptroller and Auditor General of IndiaThe constitutional authority (Article 148) that audits the accounts of the Union and states.Attorney General of IndiaThe highest law officer of the Union (Article 76), advising the government on legal matters.

Commissions

Parliamentary Standing Committee Administrative Reforms Commission Law Commission National Commission Way Forward The Law Commission Simon Commission Cabinet Committee Congress Working Committee Expert Committee A Joint Parliamentary Committee Basel Committee Drafting Committee National Judicial Appointments CommissionA proposed body to appoint judges to the higher judiciary; the 99th Amendment creating it was struck down in 2015 for violating judicial independence.Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee Atomic Energy Commission Executive Committee National Medical Commission Public Service Commission University Grants Commission Advisory Committee Appointments Committee As Chairman of the Drafting Committee Hunter Commission Indigo Commission Planning Commission Punchhi CommissionThe 2007 commission that revisited Centre–State relations, updating the Sarkaria framework.Steering Committee Way Forward The Standing Committee Central Electricity Regulatory Commission Chairman of the Drafting Committee Joint Parliamentary Committee Khilafat Committee Sarkaria CommissionThe 1983 commission on Centre–State relations whose recommendations shaped Indian federal practice.Sedition Committee States Reorganisation Commission All-India Congress Committee All-India Khilafat Committee Ambedkar Union Constitution Committee Jawaharlal Nehru Union Powers Committee Jawaharlal Nehru Advisory Committee Ashok Mehta Committee A State Finance Commission A Statutory Commission Background The Simon Commission Backward Classes Commission Balwant Rai Mehta Committee Central Khilafat Committee Champaran Agrarian Committee Disorders Inquiry Committee Gandhi and the Congress Working Committee GVK Rao Committee Head Drafting Committee Hunter Committee Khosla Commission Lessons for Governance The Second Administrative Reforms Commission LM Singhvi Committee Mandal Commission Mesopotamia Commission Military Revolutionary Committee Mukherjee Commission National Tribunals Commission Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission News The Appointments Committee Radcliffe Boundary Commission Radcliffe Commission Rajendra Prasad The Drafting Committee Robespierre and the Committee Royal Commission Shah Nawaz Khan Committee State Election Commission Summary The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee Swaran Singh Committee UN First Committee Urjit Patel Committee A Drafting Committee Background The Monetary Policy Committee Boundary Commission Chaired the Provincial Constitution Committee and the Advisory Committee Chairman of the Commission Committee Chairman Function Drafting Committee Dr Rajendra Prasad Chairman of the Drafting Committee Election Commission Expert Appraisal Committee Fazl Ali-led States Reorganisation Commission Five-Year Plans India Planning Commission Formation of the Drafting Committee From the Rowlatt Act to the Hunter Commission Government Response Indigo Commission Higher Education Commission Institutional Framework The Monetary Policy Committee Kamath Committee Key Bodies Being Replaced BodyEstablishedRole University Grants Commission Manchukuo The Lytton Commission Mandates Commission Maximilien Robespierre and the Committee National Judicial Appointments Commission Non-Intervention Committee Partition and the Boundary Commission Quick Revision Drafting Committee Report of the Disorders Inquiry Committee Report of the Hunter Commission Report of the Indian Statutory Commission Reports of the Planning Commission Robespierre and Committee Shah Commission Sinha Committee State Finance Commission State Planning Commission Tribunals Commission UN Commission Union and States Provincial Constitution Committee Union Constitution Committee Union Constitution Committee and the Union Powers Committee Union Powers Committee United Nations Commission VBSA Commission Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Commission What Was the Planning Commission When Was the Planning Commission While the Planning Commission

Government Schemes

National Mission India Semiconductor Mission Jan Dhan YojanaNational financial-inclusion mission providing basic bank accounts, credit, insurance and pension access to the unbanked.PLI Scheme Cabinet Mission Cripps Mission PM-KISANCentral income-support scheme paying ₹6,000 a year to landholding farmer families in three instalments.Ramakrishna Mission Carbon Credit Trading Scheme Critical Minerals Mission Courts Mission Jal Jeevan Mission National Green Hydrogen Mission National Solar Mission Ayushman BharatThe national health-protection scheme offering ₹5 lakh annual hospitalisation cover to poor and vulnerable families.Drive Scheme MGNREGAThe 2005 law guaranteeing 100 days of wage employment a year to rural households doing unskilled manual work.National Circular Bioenergy Scheme Swachh Bharat MissionNational sanitation campaign launched in 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid-waste management.Government Initiatives Mission PM Matru Vandana Yojana PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana Smart Cities Mission Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission IndiaAI Mission Ujjwala Yojana FAME Scheme Government Initiatives PLI Scheme India's Critical Minerals Mission Key Facts Scheme Mudra Yojana National Electric Mobility Mission PM Gram Sadak Yojana Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme Under the Cabinet Mission A Permanent Legacy Mission Basel Mission Brahmo Samaj and Ramakrishna Mission Danish-Halle Mission Failure of Cripps Mission Failure of the Cripps Mission Feature Cripps Mission Handloom Weavers' Comprehensive Welfare Scheme Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission Jiyo Parsi Scheme Legal Framework National Electric Mobility Mission National Health Mission PM Jan-Dhan Yojana PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana PM Suraksha Bima Yojana Serampore Mission Textile Workers Rehabilitation Fund Scheme What Did the Cabinet Mission Why Did the Cabinet Mission Without the Cabinet Mission WWII Context and the Cripps Mission Cabinet Mission Plan and Formation of the Assembly The Cabinet Mission Composition and Timeline The Cabinet Mission Cripps Mission Cabinet Mission Critical Minerals Processing Mission Did the Cabinet Mission From the Cripps Mission to the Cabinet Mission Government Initiatives Critical Minerals Mission Government Initiatives PM Vishwakarma Yojana Green MSME Scheme Jawahar Rozgar Yojana Mukti Mission National Language Translation Mission PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan Quick Revision Cabinet Mission Quick Revision Cripps Mission Significance for UPSC Examination The Cripps Mission and Cabinet Mission UPSC Relevance Prelims Cripps Mission UPSC Relevance Prelims Know the Cripps Mission UPSC Relevance Prelims Members of the Cabinet Mission What the Cripps Mission What the Plan Proposed The Cabinet Mission What Was the Significance of Sir Thomas Roe's Mission What Were the Proposals of the Cripps Mission Who Was Swami Dayananda Saraswati and What Drove His Reform Mission

Acts & Laws

Policies

Goods and Services TaxThe 2017 unified indirect tax on the supply of goods and services, administered through the GST Council.Flexible Inflation TargetingIndia's monetary policy framework, adopted after the Monetary Policy Framework Agreement (2015) and amendment of the RBI Act, 1934, under which the RBI targets CPI inflation of 4% with a tolerance band of plus or minus 2 percentage points.