Insights Prelims Revision 2017 Test – 40

Solution: a)
When the constitution was being drafted panchayats did not find a mention in it. At this juncture, a number of members expressed their sorrow, anger and disappointment over this issue. At the same time, drawing on his own rural experience Dr. Ambedkar argued that local elites and upper castes were so well entrenched in society that local self-government only meant a continuing exploitation of the downtrodden masses of Indian society. The upper castes would no doubt silence this segment of the population further.
The concept of local government was dear to Gandhiji too. He envisaged each village as a self-sufficient unit conducting its own affairs and saw gram-swarajya to be an ideal model to be continued after independence.

Solution: a)
The basic equation representing the economy is:
I + G + X – M ≡ S + T
In other words

(I – S) + (G – T) ≡ M – X (2.8)
In the equation, G – T measures by what amount the government expenditure exceeds the tax revenue earned by it. This is referred to as budget deficit. M – X is known as the trade deficit – it measures the excess of import expenditure over the export revenue earned by the economy (M is the outflow from the country, X is the inflow into the country).
If there is no government, no foreign trade then G = T = M = X = 0.
Hence the equation yields I ≡ S, which means investments equal to savings.

Solution: d

15 judges elected for 9 years by absolute majority in both general assembly and security council

Solution : c

Major decisions require two-third majority. Otherwise a simple majority

Solution (c)

The legislature is not involved in the process of appointment of judges. Thus, it was believed that party politics would not play a role in the process of appointments. But the judges of the Supreme Court and High Court are appointed by the President in consultation with the members of the Judiciary. It should also be noted that while in making appointments, the executive plays a crucial role; the legislature has the powers of removal. Hence the first statement is wrong.
In order to be appointed as a judge, a person must have experience as a lawyer and/or must be well versed in law. Political opinions of the person or his/her political loyalty should not be the criteria for appointments to judiciary.
The judges have a fixed tenure. They hold office till reaching the age of retirement. Only in exceptional cases, judges may be removed. But otherwise, they have security of tenure. Security of tenure ensures that judges could function without fear or favour.
The Constitution prescribes a very difficult procedure (special majority is required) for removal of judges. The removal of judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts is also extremely difficult. A judge of the Supreme Court or High Court can be removed only on the ground of proven misbehaviour or incapacity. A motion containing the charges against the judge must be approved by special majority in both Houses of the Parliament.
The Constitution makers believed that a difficult procedure of removal would provide security of office to the members of judiciary.
The judiciary is not financially dependent on either the executive or legislature. The Constitution provides that the salaries and allowances of the judges are not subjected to the approval of the legislature.

The actions and decisions of the judges are immune from personal criticisms. The judiciary has the power to penalise those who are found guilty of contempt of court. This authority of the court is seen as an effective protection to the judges from unfair criticism. Parliament cannot discuss the conduct of the judges except when the proceeding toremove a judge is being carried out. This gives the judiciary independence to adjudicate without fear of being criticised.

Solution (c)

Under the Advisory Jurisdiction the President of India can refer any matter that is of public importance or that which involves interpretation of Constitution to Supreme Court for advice. However, the Supreme Court is not bound to give advice on such matters and the President is not bound to accept such an advice. Utility of the advisory powers of the Supreme Court- The utility is two-fold. In the first place, it allows the government to seek legal opinion on a matter of importance before taking action on it. This may prevent unnecessary litigations later. Secondly, in the light of the advice of the Supreme Court, the government can make suitable changes in its action or legislations

Solution (a)
In this article (Article-368), there are two methods of amending the Constitution and they apply to two different sets of articles of the Constitution. One method is that amendment can be made by special majority of the two houses of the Parliament. The other method is more difficult: it requires special majority of the Parliament and consent of half of the State legislatures. Note that all amendments to the Constitution are initiated only in the Parliament. Besides the special majority in the Parliament no outside agency—like a constitution commission or a separate body—is required for amending the Constitution.
Similarly, after the passage in the Parliament and in some cases, in State legislatures, no referendum is required for ratification of the amendment.
After the passage in the Parliament and in some cases, in State legislatures, no referendum is required for ratification of the amendment.
Only elected representatives of the people are empowered to consider and take final decisions on the question of amendments. Thus, Sovereignty of elected representatives (parliamentary sovereignty) is the basis of the amendment procedure

Solution (b)

Instruments of Parliamentary Control The legislature in parliamentary system ensures executive accountability at various stages: policy making, implementation of law or policy and during and post implementation stage. The legislature does this through the use of a variety of devices:

1. Deliberation and discussion- Zero Hour where members are free to raise any matter that they think is important (though the ministers are not bound to reply), half-an – hour discussion on matters of public importance, adjournment motion etc. are some instruments of exercising control. 2. Approval or Refusal of laws 3. Financial control- before granting money the Lok Sabha can discuss the reasons for which the government requires money. It can enquire into cases of misuse of funds on the basis of the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Public Accounts committees. 4. No confidence motion: The most powerful weapon that enables the Parliament to ensure executive accountability is the no-confidence motion. As long as the government has the support of its party or coalition of parties that have a majority in the Lok Sabha, the power of the House to dismiss the government is fictional rather than real.

Solution (c)

Only Lok Sabha can initiate, reject or amend money bills. If it is a money bill, the Rajya Sabha can either approve the bill or suggest changes but cannot reject it. If it takes no action within 14 days the bill is deemed to have been passed. Amendments to the bill, suggested by Rajya Sabha, may or may not be accepted by the Lok Sabha.

The Constitutional Amendment Bills can only be ratified i.e., it cannot be rejected or returned.

The President does not enjoy constitutional discretion, he/she enjoys only situational discretion like appointment of Prime Minister, dismissal of council of ministers. Directive Principles of State Policy are known as instrument of instructions in Indian administration.

Solution (d)
In all other spheres, including passing of non-money bills, constitutional amendments, and impeaching the President and removing the Vice President the powers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are co-equal. Participates in the election and removal of the President, Vice President, Judges of Supreme Court and High Court

Solution (b)

Recently, Captain Radhika Menon was awarded with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea.
With this, she became the first woman in the world to receive the Award.
She was presented with this award for saving lives of seven fishermen from sinking fishing boat in Bay of Bengal

In 2011, Radhika Menon had made history by becaming the first woman to become captain of Indian Merchant Navy.
International Maritime Organisation (IMO): It UN’s specialised agency responsible for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.

Solution: b

Under WTO norms, once a country gets MES status, exports from it are to be accepted at the production costs and selling price as the benchmark. Prior to this status, country is considered as a Non Market Economy (NME).
Market Economy Status will mean lesser chances of anti-dumping duties being imposed or lesser anti-dumping duties even if they are imposed. This is because a market economy does not exploit the monopoly of the state to unreasonably lower the prices of goods to make them competitive abroad.

Statement 1: There is no such compulsion. WTO operates on multilateral basis. No nation is forced to sign FTAs or treaties with other nations. So, 1 is wrong.
Statement 2:The WTO-member countries had decided to deem China as a ‘market economy’ in anti-dumping cases from December 2016.
As per the 2001 agreement (before this one), to calculate the ‘normal value’ of exported goods while adjudicating anti-dumping cases, the WTO member nations could ignore the selling price and production costs in China. India is not inclined to automatically grant the coveted ‘Market Economy Status’ (MES) to China under World Trade Organisation (WTO) norms in December 2016. The main reason India is reluctant to grant MES to China is that it will severely curb India’s ability to impose anti-dumping duties on “unfairly priced” Chinese imports.

Solution (b)

Statement 2: It is the nodal agency of the Union Government to formulate and monitor country’s economic policies and programmes having a bearing on domestic and international aspects of economic management. A principal responsibility of this Department is the preparation of the Union Budget annually (excluding the Railway Budget).
Statement 3: Other main functions include:
Formulation and monitoring of macroeconomic policies, including issues relating to fiscal policy and public finance, inflation, public debt management and the functioning of Capital Market including Stock Exchanges. In this context, it looks at ways and means to raise internal resources through taxation, market borrowings and mobilisation of small savings; Monitoring and raising of external resources through multilateral and bilateral Official Development Assistance, sovereign borrowings abroad, foreign investments and monitoring foreign exchange resources including balance of payments etc.
It is also responsible for overseeing the production of bank notes and coins of various denominations, postal stationery, postal stamps; and Cadre management, career planning and training of the Indian Economic Service (IES).

Solution (a)

Statement 1: Such matters come under money bills. Money bills can only be introduced in LS, not RS.
Statement 2: This is done by Rajya Sabha. If the question had asked the Vice-President, you should have chosen this statement as correct. Lok Sabha serves as the collegiums for electing the VP. Moreover, appointment is not a correct term in this context; it should be election.
Statement 3: Both houses can do so. A bill for this purpose, if defeated by any house, lapses and cannot be presented in a joint sitting of the houses.
Statement 4: Both houses can approve this proclamation. Lok Sabha can also revoke an emergency.
Statement 5: In case of SC, this is done by the President on the advice of a collegiums consisting of the CJI and some senior-most judges of HC. LS, however, takes part in the impeachment of judiciary.

Solution: C
The National Defence Fund was set up to take charge of voluntary donations in cash and kind received for promotion of the national defence effort, and to decide on their utilisation

Statement 1:The fund is entirely dependent on voluntary contributions from the public and does not get any budgetary support. The fund accepts online contributions.
Statement 2:The Fund is used for the welfare of the members of the Armed Forces (including Para Military Forces) and their dependents.
Statement 3:The Fund is administered by an Executive Committee, with PM as Chairperson, and Defence, Finance and Home Ministers as Members. Finance Minister is the Treasurer of the Fund and the Joint Secretary, PMO dealing with the subject is Secretary of the Executive Committee. Accounts of the Fund are kept with the Reserve Bank of India

Solution: a

2x^-1 + 2y^-1   = 2(x+y)/xy

Solution: a)

6*4=24

Solution: b

40:64 = 5:8

Solution: b)
LCM of 18, 24 and 32 = 288 minutes i.e. 4 hours and 48 minutes. Add to 8’o clock. The time is 12:48 hours.

Solution: a)