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India has witnessed the dominance of a plethora of political dynasties, both at the national as well as the state level, since independence. The post-colonial Indian state adopted a liberal constitutional democracy premised upon modern representative institutions. However, the primordial principle of hereditary succession of power resiliently co-existed in the form of powerful political families that have continued to impact the nature of Indian democratic political discourse till today. The political parties are an instrumental driver of political life in all modern representative democracies including India. Hence, it is crucial to study how the Indian party system has consolidated the prominence of political dynasties especially from the 1970s onwards, in the realm of both party organisation and the representative institutions. In this context, the article attempts to problematise the nature of dynastic politics in India and offers a framework to analyse the causes of its dominance to understand how it impacts the right to equal political opportunity and electoral competitiveness. The article makes three arguments. First, to better understand the amorphous nature of dynastic politics, two elements – dynastic representation in elected institutions and dynasty-led parties – need to be studied distinctively, despite some commonalities. Second, dynastic representation is largely ubiquitous in most political parties (in both dynasty-led and non-dynasty-led parties) due to the party's preference for legacy candidates and their higher chances of electoral winnability. Third, the article offers two typologies of dynasty-led parties, explaining why the dynasties' grip over their parties, particularly in recent times, appears to be mostly performance-immune and in what circumstances some dynasty-led parties not only perform better in electoral contests than others but also face tough competition for retaining their dynastic control over the party. Lastly, the article concludes with some reflections on how dynastic representation and dynasty-led parties impact the form and substance of the Indian party system and democratic politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colonial medical education and public health policies emerged from an intriguing discourse of negotiation between the government and the people. These 'structured conflicts', rooted in the politics and the debates of the colonial institutions not only provided opportunities for creative thinking about public health but also for imposing constraints. The colonial and post-colonial India medical legislative debates revealing a new language of protest, assumed greater significance with the growing nationalist movement and the general (though variegated) intellectual polarisation – western and indigenous systems of medicine. Problematising the historiographic assertion of medical modernisation in colonial India to be a part of 'civilising mission', this paper argues that legislature emerged as a platform of activism and protest against the colonial and post-colonial State's appropriation of modernity. While some members appealed for extending the benefit of 'modern' western medicine to the general Indian population, some debated in favour of introducing the indigenous medical systems to the terms of modern professionalisation. The post-colonial policies reveal the true significance of the legislative debates in reviving the position of indigenous systems of medicine in the context of professional modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the point when India acquired autonomy from British rule in 1947, many states like Deccan, Mysore area and President Madras joined the Indian association. Some had to partake and others were chosen. Kashmir, with its greater part of Muslim populace in the district, had been hesitant to join both of the two powers on their side, specifically India or Pakistan. In 1949, Article 370 of October was included to the Indian constitution an in-between time premise under Maharaja Hari Singh and parliamentary pioneer Sheik Abdulla. What's more, from that date, Article 370 was important for Jammu and Kashmir's standard until 2019 when it was revoked. The full sacred place of Kashmir can't be perceived by alluding to the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir alone, one should fall back on the Constitution of India, as it applies to the state. The "exceptional" status award is generally the glaring issue at hand. Jammu and Kashmir, with its delicate landscape, arises as an international strategy issue, instead of a homegrown one because of its status in our Constitution. There is a ridiculous inlet between the residents of Kashmir and the remainder of India. This is an insignificant fringe, yet in any case, tragically, it rehashes the same thing Article 370 and Article 35A need to go. To put it plainly, the issue is that with Kashmir, governmental policy regarding minorities in society will in general be deceptive. Rather than going the administrative course, Article 35A was passed by official declaration. The legislative branch's administrative power, as enshrined in the Constitution. The change in the constitution isn't possible by itself. Indeed, even a declaration that has been ruled against by should be passed by Parliament. Chief Orders passed by the President in 1954 are liable to Article 370(1)(d). Article 370 in itself is viewed as brief; the primary expression of the article is temporary. This is still in Part XXI, given the title of being "Impermanent, Transitional, and Special Provisions". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to investigate the information needs of Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) of Delhi. It aims to provide a study of information sources used by them. It also includes the library use by MLAs, their awareness about various library services, and deals with the problems/hindrances faced by MLAs during the process of information seeking. Design/methodology/approach- The study was conducted with the help of a structured questionnaire and semi-structured interview schedule. The respondents marked their response on a graphic scale which was converted into a rating scale for obtaining the inferences. The analysis of data is done with the help of weighted mean. A histograph has been used to make the matter more understandable. Findings - The results of this research show that only a few MLAs are aware about the usefulness of library/information services. They are dependant on non-documentary sources of information. They are not fully satisfied with the present system of information gathering, where they have to devote more time and energy. Research limitations/implications - The present research is applied only to the information system available to the MLAs of Delhi. The findings can not be universalized to all the MLAs in the different states of India. Practical implications - In the last part of this paper an outline for the proposed information system for the MLAs of Delhi has been provided. These suggestions will be useful to the policy maker when making an electronic based information system for the MLAs of Delhi. Originality/value - There has been no study carried out on the information needs of MLAs in India prior to this research. The study will help the authorities to build/rebuild/improve the information system for MLAs in Delhi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]