Glossary

Glossary - Challenges of Nation Building

British Commonwealth : An association of nations involving the United Kingdom and many former British colonies that later became independent states but continue to pledge allegiance to the British Crown are British Commonwealth.

Cultural Homogeneity : A State promoted standardisation of culture that interconnects the States, based on the supposition of establishing an ideal unified community is Cultural Homogeneity.

Constituent Assembly : A body of representatives, who are elected by popular vote, with the objective of creating, changing, or drafting a constitution, i.e. a legal system that determines the fundamental political principles of a government is a Constituent Assembly.

Dominion : A self-governing nation in the British Commonwealth is Dominion.

Dravidar Kazhagam : A revolutionary movement that aimed at streamlining the voice of the Tamils towards social cause and for the upliftment of the Tamils is Dravidar Kazhagam.

House of Commons : The lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, whose members are elected by people. These members are known as ‘Members of Parliament’.

Inter-state Council : A constitutional body set up to develop and encourage a support system between the Centre and the State to improve the Inter-State coordination and cooperation in India is Inter-state Council.

Monarchic Government : A kingdom or an empire ruled by king or a queen is monarchic government. However, in a constitutional monarchy, the powers of the monarch are limited but in absolute monarchy, the powers of the monarch are limitless.

Presidency : A large administrative unit under the British Colonial rule that was governed by a Governor General, or Generals, appointed by Viceroys was called a Presidency. The three Presidencies under the British rule were the Bombay Presidency, the Calcutta Presidency, and the Madras Presidency.

Princely State : Also known as a ‘native state’, a Princely State is a political unit of a larger administrative province that either is ruled directly by monarchic lineage (Indian royal family) or serves as a subsidiary coalition with a more powerful monarchic government (Colonial rulers).

Provinces : A smaller administrative unit than a Presidency that was under the British Colonial rule was called a Province.

Taluk : A tax or administrative district in some South Asian countries is a Taluk.

Union Budget : The Union Budget also known as, the ‘Annual Financial Statement’ is the account or estimation of the Indian government’s finances, i.e. receipts and expenditure for the fiscal (financial) year. The fiscal year begins from 1st April to 31st March. The Union Budget is of two types: Revenue Budget and Capital Budget.

Union Territories : An administrative unit that comes under the governance of the Central government is a Union Territory. During the reorganisation of States, some administrative units were too weak, economically unstable, or were smaller in geographical area to be declared a State. Hence, these places were declared as Union Territories.

Viceroy : An official of country, colony, or province, who rules as the representative of his or her king or sovereign is a Viceroy.