Clarification and Correction to the answer to Q 114

Sudhakar Tripathi Says:
see q-114 correct answer is d not a. there are 628 member in parliament of russia. 450 member is in state duma(lower house). 178 member are in federation council that is upper house not lower. so ans d is correctnot a. plz clarify it.

Dear Sudhakar Tripathi,
First of all thanks once again.
I feel obliged. You have helped me to correct my mistake. You are correct and I am wrong.
Kindly find below some details.
Your are right. The Answer to the question is d, that is 1 only is correct. That is, The Parliament of Russia is called Federal Assembly.

Authentication/Validation/Verification/Argument

Russian government:

State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation

ADDRESS
Russian Federation 103265, Moscow Okhotnyi Riad, 1 ("old" building)Russian Federation 103265, Moscow Georgievskii Pereulok, 2 ("new" building)
TELEPHONE Information: 292-80-00; Reception: 202-91-63; Press-center: 292-83-10.

Website: http://www.duma.gov.ru

However the above site is in Russian language.


STATUS
The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly, the parliament of the Russian Federation. The first Duma elections took place on 12 December 1993, simultaneously with the adoption of the new Constitution.
The Duma is elected for four years, but may be dismissed by the President under conditions stipulated in the Constitution.

HISTORY
Elections to the first convocation of the State Duma were set by presidential decree No.1400 of 21 September 1993, that dissolved the Congress of People’s Deputies and Supreme Soviet. As an exception contained in the transitional provisions of the Constitution, the first convocation was elected for a two year term. The first convocation was elected on 12 December 1993, held its first plenary session on 11 January 1993, and met for the last time on 22 December 1995. Ivan P.Rybkin served as the first Chairman of the Duma, from 14 January 1994 to 17 January 1996. Gennadii N.Seleznev has served as Chairman since 17 January 1996.
The Duma’s four year term runs out on 17 December 1999, but the Duma retains its powers until the next convocation begins work. If the Duma is not dismissed early, the next convocation should be elected on 19 December 1999 and begin work 18 January 2000.
Unofficially, the First Duma convocation was also called "the fifth State Duma", hearkening to the Tsarist era institutions that existed from 1906-1917. The current Duma is occasionally referred to as the "sixth Duma".


POWERS
The basic powers of the State Duma are listed in article 103 of the Constitution. The first Convocation of the Duma decided not to adopt a law on its status as the successor to the Congress of People’s Deputies. Instead, it gradually established its powers by adopting federal laws based on the new Constitution. The Duma requires 226 votes for the adoption of normative acts, except in cases when the Constitution requires a 2/3 or 3/5 quorum.

Legislative:
The State Duma adopts federal laws, federal constitutional laws, and constitutional amendments. These come into force after approval by the Federation Council, signature by the President, and publication. Federal laws are adopted by a simple majority (226 votes). Federal constitutional laws and constitutional amendments require a 2/3 majority (300 votes). A 2/3 majority is also required to override a presidential or Federation Council veto.
Source: http://www.cityline.ru/politika/e/fs/gd.html

Hence as on today, State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia.
The Federal Assembly of Russia can be equated to Parliament of Russia.
The Upper house is Federation of Council of Russia.
Further, as per the Article 95 of the Constitution of Russian Federation 1993, there are 450 members.


In addition to that the following facts are provided on the site:

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rs.html

"bicameral Federal Assembly or Federalnoye Sobraniye consists of the Federation Council or Sovet Federatsii (178 seats; as of July 2000, members appointed by the top executive and legislative officials in each of the 89 federal administrative units - oblasts, krays, republics, autonomous okrugs and oblasts, and the federal cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; members serve four-year terms) and the State Duma or Gosudarstvennaya Duma (450 seats; currently 225 seats elected by proportional representation from party lists winning at least 5% of the vote, and 225 seats from single-member constituencies; members are elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)"

The above information is updated upto May 17, 2005.

According to it, the Federal Assembly consists of Federal Assembly consisted of 178 members and Sate Duma consisted of 450 seats. State Duma is the lower house. Federation of Council is Upper House of Russia.
Hence the answer is d, 1 only.