Insights Static Quiz -377, 2019–Polity

Solution: a)

Article 180 (1) of the Constitution gives the Governor the power to appoint a pro-tem Speaker. The Article says that if the chair of the Speaker falls vacant and there is no Deputy Speaker to fill the position, the duties of the office shall be performed “by such member of the Assembly as the Governor may appoint for the purpose”.

The powers of a pro-tem Speaker are wide. The Bombay High Court in its 1994 judgement in the Surendra Vassant Sirsat case holds that a pro-tem is Speaker of the House “for all purposes with all powers, privileges and immunities” until the Speaker is elected.

The Odisha High Court also agreed in the Godavaris Misra versus Nandakisore Das, Speaker, Orissa Legislative Assembly case when it said the “powers of the Speaker pro-tem are co-extensive with the powers of elected Speaker”.

            Solution: d)

• The term Leader of the House has been defined in Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
• Leader of the House, according to Rule 2 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha means the prime Minister, if he is a Member of the House or a Minister who is a Member of the House and is nominated by the Prime Minister to function as the Leader of the House.
• The Prime Minister is invariably the Leader of the Lok Sabha.
• The Leader of the Lok Sabha. viz., Prime Minister, never sits in the Business advisory Committee; he or she is represented by the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in the Business Advisory Committee. The Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha is generally a member of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC). In the event, he is not a member of the BAC, he is invited to attend its meetings.

Solution: c)

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recently issued notices to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry (MoHFW), and all States and Union Territories, over what it termed was the “deplorable public health infrastructure in the country”.

The NHRC took suo motu cognisance of several media reports on recent deaths across the country due to “deficiencies and inadequacies in the healthcare system”.

“The Commission has reminded the Central/State Governments of their constitutional duty under Article 21 of the Constitution under which Right to Life is guaranteed.

Quoting the Supreme Court of India, the Commission has observed that right to live with human

dignity is part of Right to Life.

Source

Solution: d)

Federalism refers to the division of responsibilities and functions between the Centre and States. Fiscal federalism is an important component of federalism. It refers to all financial matters conducted between the Centre and states with a view of a political federal structure in mind.

For e.g. the 14^th FC radically enhanced the share of the states in the central divisible pool from 32 percent to 42 per cent which is the biggest ever increase in vertical tax devolution.

This is supposed to strengthen fiscal federalism.

Solution: d)

Apart from the Directives included in Part IV, there are some other Directives contained in other Parts of the Constitution. They are:

1. Claims of SCs and STs to Services: The claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments to services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or a State (Article 335 in Part XVI)
2. Instruction in mother tongue: It shall be the endeavor of every state and every local authority within the state to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother-tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups (Article 350-A in Part XVII).
3. Development of the Hindi Language: It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language and to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India (Article 351 in Part XVII)