DAY – 43 ( INSTA REVISION TEST)INSTA REVISION PLAN 3.0, 2020

Solution: D

Who is a service voter ?

Service voter is a voter having service qualification. According to the provisions of sub – section (8) of Section 20 of Representation of People Act, 1950, service qualification means –
(a)    Being a member of the armed Forces of the Union ; or
(b)    Being a member of a force to which provisions of the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950), have been made applicable whether with or without modification ;
(c)    Being a member of an Armed Police Force of a State, and serving outside that state; or
(d)    Being a person who is employed under the Government of India, in a post outside India.

Solution: B

Solution: C

National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), is an inter-operable transport card conceived by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of the Government of India.

It was launched on 4 March 2019. The transport card enables the user to pay for travel, toll duties (toll tax), retail shopping, and withdraw money.

It is enabled through the RuPay card mechanism. The NCMC card is issuable as a prepaid, debit, or credit RuPay card from partnered banks such as the State Bank of India, Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, and others.

Solution: A

What is Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)?

Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) is an independent system attached with the Electronic Voting Machines that allows the voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended. When a vote is cast, a slip is printed containing the serial number, name and symbol of the candidate and remains exposed through a transparent window for 7 seconds. Thereafter, this printed slip automatically gets cut and falls in the sealed drop box of the VVPAT.

Whether VVPAT runs on electricity?

No. VVPAT runs on a power pack Battery.

Where were VVPATs used for first time in India?

VVPATs with EVMs were used for first time in a bye-election from 51-Noksen (ST) Assembly Constituency of Nagaland.

When was the EVM first introduced in elections?

EVMs were first used in 70-Parur Assembly Constituency of Kerala in the year 1982.

Solution: C

TRAFFIC – The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network:

• Founded in 1976 as a strategic alliance of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• Headquarters — Cambridge, UK
• Type — International non-governmental organization
• Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network
• Aim — ‘ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature
• It is governed by the board of trustees of TRAFFIC International
• TRAFFIC’s 2020 goal — help reduce the pressure of illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade on biodiversity, and enhance the benefits to wildlife conservation and human well-being that derive from trade at sustainable levels.

Solution: D

What are the advantages in using EVMs?

Ans. Advantage of using EVMs:

•  It completely eliminates the possibility of casting ‘Invalid Votes’, which during the paper ballot regime was noticed in large numbers during each election. In fact, in many cases, the number of ‘Invalid Votes’ exceeded the winning margin, leading to numerous complaints and litigations. Thus EVMs have enabled a more authentic and accurate reflection of the choice of the electorate.
• With the use of EVMs, printing of millions of ballot papers for every election can be dispensed with, as only one ballot paper is required for fixing on the Balloting Unit at each polling station instead of one ballot paper for each individual elector. This results in huge savings by way of cost of paper, printing, transportation, storage and distribution.
•  The counting process is very quick and the result can be declared within 3 to 5 hours as compared to 30-40 hours, on an average, under the conventional Ballot paper system.

Solution: C

What is the Model Code of Conduct?

The Model Code of Conduct for guidance of political parties and candidates is a set of norms which has been evolved with the consensus of political parties who have consented to abide by the principles embodied in the said code and also binds them to respect and observe it in its letter and spirit.

From which date the Model Code of Conduct is enforced and operational upto which date?

The Model Code of Conduct is enforced from the date of announcement of election schedule by the Election Commission and is operational till the process of elections are completed.

 What is applicability of code during general elections and bye-elections?

• During general elections to House of People (Lok Sabha), the code is applicable throughout the country.
• During general elections to the Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha), the code is applicable in the entire State.
• During bye-elections, in case the constituency is comprised in State Capital/Metropolitan Cities/Municipal Corporations, then the code would be applicable in the area of concerned Constituency only. In all other cases the MCC would be enforced in the entire district(s) covering the Constituency going for bye-election(s).

What are the salient features of the Model Code of Conduct?

The salient features of the Model Code of Conduct lay down how political parties, contesting candidates and party(s) in power should conduct themselves during the process of elections i.e. on their general conduct during electioneering, holding meetings and processions, poll day activities and functioning of the party in power etc.

Solution: B

COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund:

• The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also constituted the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund with the help of corporate bodies, foundations and the UN Foundation.
• It was launched on March 13, 2020 by the Director General of WHO in Geneva, Switzerland
• The purpose of the response fund is to “support WHO’s work to track and understand the spread of the virus; to ensure patients get the care they need and frontline workers get essential supplies and information; and to accelerate efforts to develop vaccines, tests, and treatments.
• Major companies, including Facebook, H&M and Google have donated to the Solidarity Response Fund, in addition to several private individuals.

Solution: C

Solution: B

Crop Wild relatives Project:

• It has been launched by by Crop Trust(officially known as the Global Crop Diversity Trust, is an international nonprofit organization which works to preserve crop diversity in order to protect global food security

• The objective of the project Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change: Collecting, Protecting and Preparing Crop Wild Relatives is to collect important species of crop wild relatives, ensure their long-term conservation, and facilitate their use in breeding new, improved crops.
• It aims at identifying those wild crop varieties that are missing from existing crop collections, are most likely to contain diversity of value to making agriculture more productive, and are most endangered

Project activities:

The project includes four main components: the prioritization of crop wild relatives based on a gap analysis, the collection of CWR in the field, CWR conservation in genebanks, and the use of CWR in pre-breeding efforts to prepare them for crop breeders.

Project activities are:

• Prioritization
• Collecting
• Conservation
• Information Systems
• Pre-breeding
• Evaluation
• Capacity Building

Solution: D

By Special Majority of Parliament and Consent of States

Those provisions of the Constitution which are related to the federal structure of the polity can be amended by a special majority of the Parliament and also with the consent of half of the state legislatures by a simple majority.

The following provisions can be amended in this way:
1. Election of the President and its manner.
2. Extent of the executive power of the Union and the states.
3. Supreme Court and High courts.
4. Distribution of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
5. Any of the lists in the Seventh Schedule.
6. Representation of states in Parliament.

7. Power of Parliament to amend the Constitution and its procedure (Article 368 itself).

Solution: A

A mere declaration of fundamental rights in the Constitution is meaningless,
useless and worthless without providing an effective machinery for their
enforcement, if and when they are violated.

Hence, Article 32 confers the right to remedies for the enforcement of the fundamental rights of an aggrieved citizen. In other words, the right to get the Fundamental Rights protected is in itself a fundamental right. This makes the fundamental rights real.

That is why Dr Ambedkar called Article 32 as the most important
article of the Constitution—‘an Article without which this constitution
would be a nullity. It is the very soul of the Constitution and the very
heart of it’. The Supreme Court has ruled that Article 32 is a basic feature
of the Constitution. Hence, it cannot be abridged or taken away even by way of
an amendment to the Constitution.

Solution: C

Refugee Convention 1951:

• The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention or the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951,
• It is a United Nations multilateral treaty that defines who a refugee is, and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum.
• The 1951 Refugee Convention is a key legal document and defines a refugee as: “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.”
• The Convention also sets out which people do not qualify as refugees, such as war criminals.
• The Convention also provides for some visa-free travel for holders of refugee travel documents issued under the convention.
• The Refugee Convention builds on Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes the right of persons to seek asylum from persecution in other countries.
• Cross-border displaced who have migrated due to climate change are not recognised as refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention
• India not a member

Solution: A

Article 358 is confined to Fundamental Rights under Article 19 only whereas Article 359 extends to all those Fundamental Rights whose enforcement is suspended by the Presidential Order.

Article 358 extends to the entire country whereas Article 359 may extend to the entire country or a part of it. Article 358 suspends Article 19 completely while Article 359 does not empower the suspension of the enforcement of Articles 20 and 21.

Solution: D

There is some dispute about the answer. Some claim it to be A or B which are not correct. Both Khangchendzonga and Nandadevi National park do not have tropical vegetation.

Namdapha National Park is the largest protected area in the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot and is located in Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India.

The area is also known for extensive Dipterocarp forests, comprising the northwestern parts of the ecoregion of Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests.

Solution: B

Effects of Financial Emergency
The consequences of the proclamation of a Financial Emergency are as follows:
1. The executive authority of the Centre extends (a) to directing any state to observe such canons of financial propriety as are specified by it; and (b) to directions as the President may deem necessary and adequate for the purpose.
2. Any such direction may include a provision requiring

(a) the reduction of salaries and allowances of all or any class of persons serving in the state; and

(b) the reservation of all money bills or other financial bills for the consideration of the President after they are passed by the legislature of the state.
3. The President may issue directions for the reduction of salaries and allowances of (a) all or any class of persons serving the Union; and (b) the judges of the Supreme Court and the high court

Solution: B

In the Minerva Mills case (1980), the Supreme Court held that ‘the Indian Constitution is founded on the bedrock of the balance between the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles’.

Solution: C

Saltpetre (Potassium nitrate) is not used in the production of steel. It is instead used in fertilizers, tree stump removal, rocket propellants and fireworks. It is one of the major constituents of gunpowder (blackpowder) and has been used since the Middle Ages as a food preservative.

India definitely imports coking coal. So, the answer has to be C.

It requires 0.8 tonnes coking coal to produce one tonne of steel. The government had recently imposed a 2.5 per cent duty on coking coal import.

Solution: C

Solution: C

Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant is an under-construction 2.4 GWe nuclear power plant in Bangladesh. The Rooppur project is the first initiative under an Indo-Russian deal to undertake atomic energy projects in third countries.

Solution: B

A person to be eligible for election as President should fulfil the following qualifications:

1. He should be a citizen of India.
   2. He should have completed 35 years of age.
2. He should be qualified for election as a member of the Lok Sabha.
3. He should not hold any office of profit under the Union government or any state government or any local authority or any other public authority.

A sitting President or Vice-President of the Union, the Governor of any state and a minister of the Union or any state is not deemed to hold any office of profit and hence qualified as a presidential candidate.

Solution: B

The presidential proclamation imposing President’s Rule is subject to judicial review. The satisfaction of the President must be based on relevant material. The action of the president can be struck down by the court if it is based on irrelevant or extraneous grounds or if it was found to be malafide or perverse.

Judicial Review is one of the ‘basic features’ of the Constitution.

Solution: D

The 22nd national conference on e-governance adopted the ‘Shillong Declaration’. The declaration has outlined the future trajectory that would be taken in terms of e-governance with a focus on improving connectivity in Northeast. The Shillong Declaration was adopted so that the important ideas that emerged during the sessions of the conference may be referred to and developed in the future.

Solution: D

Article 1 describes India as a ‘Union of States’ which implies two things: one, Indian Federation is not the result of an agreement by the states; and two, no state has the right to secede from the federation.

The term ‘Federation’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution.

Solution: B
The writ of mandamus is a command issued by the court to a public official
asking him to perform his official duties that he has failed or refused to
perform. It can also be issued against any public body, a corporation, an
inferior court, a tribunal or government for the same purpose.

The writ of prohibition can be issued only against judicial and quasi-judicial
authorities. It is not available against administrative authorities,
legislative bodies, and private individuals or bodies.

Previously, the writ of certiorari could be issued only against judicial and
quasi-judicial authorities and not against administrative authorities.
However, in 1991, the Supreme Court ruled that the certiorari can be
issued even against administrative authorities affecting rights of
individuals. Like prohibition, certiorari is also not available against
legislative bodies and private individuals or bodies.