QUIZ – 2017: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 17 February 2017

Solution: a.

• A moonshot, in a technology context, is an ambitious, exploratory and ground-breaking project undertaken without any expectation of near-term profitability or benefit and also, perhaps, without a full investigation of potential risks and benefits.
• Google defines moonshot as a project or proposal that a) Addresses a huge problem, b) Proposes a radical solution, and c) Uses breakthrough technology.
• The term “moonshot” derives from the Apollo 11 spaceflight project, which landed the first human on the moon in 1969. “Moonshot” may also reference the earlier phrase “shoot for the moon” meaning aim for a lofty target.

What is moonshot;

Improvisation – BBC: Google hails net balloon ‘breakthrough’;

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Solution: d.

• Boston-based Health Effects Institute has launched State of Global Air 2017 — a concise, accessible report and interactive website providing “one-stop shopping” for the latest trends in air quality and its impact on human health around the world.
• The report and website will be updated each year, highlighting the extent to which air pollution affects public health as well as tracking progress toward cleaner air.

Improvisation: IE – Costs of Denial;

HEI launches State of Global Air report;

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Solution: c.

The Centre’s plan for a graded response to pollution “will need to take cognisance of a new pollutant mentioned in the report — ozone. Though the casualties from the gas are far less than the well-known PM 2.5, the rate of increase in ozone-related deaths is alarming. The report notes a 148 per cent increase in ozone-related deaths since 1990. The science on ozone pollution is still in its early stage and it could well be that the figures in the report are nebulous. But ozone pollution is surely something which the graded action plan would do well to address.”

IE – Costs of Denial;

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Solution: d.

The Constitution lays down only two qualifications for the appointment of a person as a governor. These are:

1. He should be a citizen of India.
2. He should have completed the age of 35 years.

Additionally, two conventions have also developed in this regard over the years. First, he should be an outsider, that is, he should not belong to the state where he is appointed, so that he is free from the local politics. Second, while appointing the governor, the president is required to consult the chief minister of the state concerned, so that the smooth functioning of the constitutional machinery in the state is ensured. However, both the conventions have been violated in some of the cases.

Improvisation: Above the fray?;

Ch-26, Governor, Indian Polity 4^th Edition by M Laxmikanth;

Solution: d.

• Although reducing outdoor air pollution remains difficult for Indian policymakers given the multiplicity of sources involved, the country is making major strides in addressing household air pollution. First with the Give it Up scheme and now with the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) programme, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has targeted 5 crore BPL households to be connected to LPG by 2019.
• An LPG connection is a necessary first step, but there is need to ensure usage as well. An LPG connection alone does not help health much if the cylinder and stove sit unused in a corner, and are used occasionally for making tea. A near-full transition to LPG as the main cookfuel is needed to stop the household and ambient pollution from traditional biomass use.

IE – The pollution in the house;

Solution: d.

• “…it invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 to order Shahabuddin’s transfer to Tihar Jail.”
• “…instead of ruling on the legal issues involved, or deciding which of the two Chief Ministers was the legitimate occupant of the chair, the bench headed by Chief Justice M.M. Punchhi, ordered a composite floor test to be held on February 26. On that day, both Mr. Pal and Mr. Singh sat as Chief Ministers in the U.P. Assembly, while the MLAs had the liberty to vote for either of them.” … “The order in the Jagdambika Pal case can only trace its power to Article 142 of the Constitution.”
• “Mr. Rohatgi said the Supreme Court as the apex judiciary is empowered under Articles 129 read with its extraordinary powers under Article 142 (2) to punish a member of the High Court and subordinate judiciary for contempt.”

IE – Shift Shahabuddin for the sake of social order;

TH: Jugaad jurisprudence;

TH: SC issues contempt notice against HC Judge Karnan;

Solution: c.

“Two Chief Ministers simultaneously occupying constitutional office is an abomination which the Supreme Court once sanctified, in unusual circumstances, in Jagadambika Pal. In 1998, Jagadambika Pal was sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and lasted for three days in February. The previous State government led by Kalyan Singh was dismissed on February 21, 1998 by Governor Romesh Bhandari. Mr. Singh moved the Allahabad High Court, which termed the dismissal of his government unconstitutional on February 23, thereby reinstating the Kalyan Singh government. Mr. Pal appealed to the Supreme Court. On February 24, instead of ruling on the legal issues involved, or deciding which of the two Chief Ministers was the legitimate occupant of the chair, the bench headed by Chief Justice M.M. Punchhi, ordered a composite floor test to be held on February 26. On that day, both Mr. Pal and Mr. Singh sat as Chief Ministers in the U.P. Assembly, while the MLAs had the liberty to vote for either of them. Mr. Singh won the floor test, only to fall on a later day.”

“The order in the Jagdambika Pal case can only trace its power to Article 142 of the Constitution which authorises the Supreme Court to “pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it”. Orders passed under this article have no precedential value.”

The Governor “did well to ignore the curious advice of Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who advocated a composite floor test…There are precedents for a composite floor test, but these were conducted in truly extraordinary circumstances and when specifically mandated by the judiciary.”

TH: Jugaad jurisprudence;

TH: Change of Guard;

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