Insights Revision Through MCQs – 23 November 2019

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Any MP who is not a Minister is referred to as a private member.
• The admissibility is decided by the Chairman for Rajya Sabha and Speaker in the case of Lok Sabha.The procedure is roughly the same for both Houses:
• While government Bills can be introduced and discussed on any day, private member’s Bills can be introduced and discussed only on Fridays
• Till date, Parliament has passed 15 Private Members’ Bills. Five of these were passed in 1956 alone and After 47 years of passing the last bill, the Supreme Court (Enlargement of Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction) Bill, 1968 that became an Act on 9 August 1970; Rajya Sabha has passed the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2014 on April 24, 2015, which was introduced in the lower house, Lok Sabha on 26 February 2016

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/23/private-members-bill-2/

Ans: (b)

Explanation: The following are the rate cuts announced at the 36th GST Council meeting:

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/23/gst-council-3/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly passed the state GST Bill 2017 making it the last state of the country to join the new tax regime ( joined in 2017)
  • Since Govt scraps 370 and splits in J&k into 2 UT’s- The state goods and services tax (GST) will continue, says the Jammu and Kashmir reorganisation legislation, but according to officials and experts, it would be for the time being.
  • Later, the UT GST Act has to be made for Ladakh and state GST Act for J&K.
  • According to experts, the reorganisation Act says the GST Act will continue because in its absence there will be problems in enforcing the indirect tax on the two union territories that will now replace the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • “Although J&K will continue with the SGST since it has an assembly despite being union territory, Ladakh will require UTGST, for which the Centre will pass an ordinance to quicken the process,” an official said.
• Under the GST law, a State has been defined to include a Union Territory having a Legislature. Given that both, Delhi and Pondicherry have State Legislatures, they are treated as States under GST
• GSTC is a constitutional body for making recommendations to the Union and State Government on issues related to Goods and Service Tax.
• The GST Council is chaired by the Union Finance Minister and other members are the Union State Minister of Revenue or Finance and Ministers in-charge of Finance or Taxation of all the State
• As per Article 279A of the amended Constitution, the GST Council which will be a joint forum of the Centre and the States, shall consist of the following members: –
  • the Union Finance Minister, Union Minister of State in charge of Revenue or Finance, the Minister in charge of Finance or Taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State Government
• Presently, the law specifies that all decisions in the GST Council will be taken by a weighted voting procedure where the Centre will have one-third weightage of the total votes cast and the States will have two-thirds weightage of the total votes cast. Passing of a resolution requires the support of at least three-fourth weightage of the total votes cast.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/23/gst-council-3/

Ans: (a)

Explanation: One Stop Centre (OSC) scheme

• Popularly known as Sakhi, Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has formulated this Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• It is a sub – scheme of Umbrella Scheme for National Mission for Empowerment of women including Indira Gandhi Mattritav Sahyaog Yojana.
• Under the scheme, One Stop Centres are being established across the country to provide integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces in phased manner.
• Target group: The OSC will support all women including girls below 18 years of ageaffected by violence, irrespective of caste, class, religion, region, sexual orientation or marital status.

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/23/one-stop-centre-scheme-3/

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• All the given statements are considered as drawback of Reverse Osmosis Plants

Refer: https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/23/reverse-osmosis-ro/

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Living root bridges are a form of tree shaping common in the southern part of the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya.
• They are handmade from the aerial roots of rubber fig trees (Ficus elastic) by the Khasi and Jaintia peoples of the mountainous terrain along the southern part of the Shillong Plateau.
• Root bridges have also been observed in the Indian state of Nagaland

Refer: Facts for Prelims: (https://www.insightsonindia.com/2019/11/23/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-23-november-2019/

Ans: (b)

Explanation:

• Even though it might be useful in all major schemes, it was seen as a strategic intervention for Digital India to succeed.
• CSCs are the access points for delivery of various electronic services to villages in India, thereby contributing to a digitally and financially inclusive society.
• CSCs enable the three vision areas of the Digital India programme:
  • Digital infrastructure as a core utility to every citizen.
  • Governance and services on demand.
  • Digital empowerment of citizens.
• Significance of CSCs:
• CSCs are more than service delivery points in rural India. They are positioned as change agents, promoting rural entrepreneurship and building rural capacities and livelihoods. They are enablers of community participation and collective action for engendering social change through a bottom-up approach with key focus on the rural citizen.
• The CSC project, which forms a strategic component of the National e-Governance Plan was approved by the Government in May 2006, as part of its commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme to introduce e-governance on a massive scale.

Ans: (a)

Explanation:

• Development expenditure: It is that expenditure which is incurred on economic and social development of the country. Example: expenditure on education, health, employment, industry etc
• Defence expenditure is not treated as developmental expenditure.

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• The China Seas consist of a series of marginal seas in the Western Pacific Ocean, around China. They are the major components signifying the transition from the continent of Asia to the Pacific Ocean. They have been described in terms of their collective vastness and complexity: The four seas of China, the Bohai Sea, the Huanghai Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea, occupy a total area of about 4.7 million km2, half of the area of China mainland.
• These seas are located in the southeastern margin of the Eurasian continent and subject to the interactions between the Eurasian, Pacific, and Indian-Australian plates. The seas have complicated geology and rich natural resources.
• 

Ans: (d)

Explanation:

• Mercantilism is an economic theory that advocates government regulation of international trade to generate wealth and strengthen national power.
• Merchants and the government work together to reduce the trade deficit and create a surplus. It funds corporate, military, and national growth. Mercantilism is a form of economic nationalism.
• It advocates trade policies that protect domestic industries.
• The mercantilist theory of economic growth is primarily concerned with an increase in the surplus in the balance of trade.