DAY – 70 (InstaTest-70): Insta 75 Days Revision Plan-2022: Topic – Polity Full Syllabus (Third Revision), PREVIOUS YEAR UPSC PAPER 2018, April 2022 CA

Solution: D

The Supreme Court has held that if the government fails to consult UPSC in the matters, the aggrieved public servant has no remedy in a court. In other words, the court held that any irregularity in consultation with the UPSC or acting without consultation does not invalidate the decision of the government. Thus, the provision is directory and not mandatory. Similarly, the court held that a selection by the UPSC does not confer any right to the post upon the candidate.

However, the government is to act fairly and without arbitrariness or mala fides.

The UPSC presents, annually, to the president a report on its performance. The President places this report before both the Houses of Parliament, along with a memorandum explaining the cases where the advice of the Commission was not accepted and the reasons for such non-acceptance. All such cases of nonacceptance must be approved by the Appointments Committee of the Union cabinet. An individual ministry or department has no power to reject the advice of the UPSC.

UPSC is only a central recruiting agency while the Department of Personnel and Training is the central personnel agency in India.

The role of UPSC is not only limited, but also recommendations made by it are only of advisory nature and hence, not binding on the government. It is upto the Union government to accept or reject that advise. The only safeguard is the answerability of the government to the Parliament for departing from the recommendation of the Commission. Further, the government can also make rules which regulate the scope of the advisory functions of UPSC.

Solution: A

A State Public Service Commission consists of a chairman and other members appointed by the governor of the state. The Constitution does not specify the strength of the Commission but has left the matter to the discretion of the Governor. Further, no qualifications are prescribed for the commission’s membership except that one-half of the members of the commission should be such persons who have held office for at least ten years either under the government of India or under the Government of a state.

The Constitution also authorizes the governor to determine the conditions of service of the chairman and members of the Commission.

The chairman and members of the Commission hold office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 62 years, whichever is earlier (in the case of UPSC, the age limit is 65 years). However, they can relinquish their offices at any time by addressing their resignation to the governor.

The president can also remove the chairman or any other member of SPSC for misbehavior. However, in this case, the president has to refer the matter to the Supreme Court for an enquiry. If the Supreme Court, after the enquiry, upholds the cause of removal and advises so, the president can remove the chairman or a member.

Under the provisions of the Constitution, the advise tendered by the Supreme Court in this regard is binding on the president. However, during the course of enquiry by the Supreme Court, the governor can suspend the concerned chairman or member, pending the final removal order of the president on receipt of the report of the Supreme Court.

Solution: D

Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG)

The Constitution has made the following provisions to safeguard and ensure the independence of CAG:

1. He is provided with the security of tenure. He can be removed by the president only in accordance with the procedure mentioned in the Constitution. Thus, he does not hold his office till the pleasure of the president, though he is appointed by him.
2. He is not eligible for further office, either under the Government of India or of any state, after he ceases to hold his office.
3. His salary and other service conditions are determined by the Parliament. His salary is equal to that of a judge of the Supreme Court.
4. Neither his salary nor his rights in respect of leave of absence, pension or age of retirement can be altered to his disadvantage after his appointment.
5. The conditions of service of persons serving in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department and the administrative powers of the CAG are prescribed by the president after consultation with the CAG.
6. The administrative expenses of the office of the CAG, including all salaries, allowances and pensions of persons serving in that office are charged upon the Consolidated Fund of India. Thus, they are not subject to the vote of Parliament.

Further, no minister can represent the CAG in Parliament (both Houses) and no minister can be called upon to take any responsibility for any actions done by him.

Solution: D

CENTRAL COUNCIL OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The Central Council of Local Government was set up in 1954. It was constituted under Article 263 of the Constitution of India by an order of the President of India. Originally, it was known as the Central Council of Local Self-Government. However, the term ‘self-government’ was found to be superfluous and hence was replaced by the term ‘government’ in the 1980s.

Till 1958, it dealt with both urban as well as rural local governments, but after 1958 it has been dealing with matters of urban local government only. The Council is an advisory body. It consists of the Minister for Urban Development in the Government of India and the ministers for local self-government in states.

The Union minister acts as the Chairman of the Council.

The Council performs the following functions with regard to local government:

(i) Considering and recommending the policy matters

(ii) Making proposals for legislation

(iii) Examining the possibility of cooperation between the Centre and the states

(iv) Drawing up a common programme of action

(v) Recommending Central financial assistance

(vi) Reviewing the work done by the local bodies with the Central financial assistance

Solution: A

The Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) was established by the Government in 2015 as an attached office of the NITI Aayog by merging the erstwhile Programme Evaluation Organization and the Independent Evaluation Office.

The DMEO is headed by the Director General who is equivalent to an Additional Secretary to the Government of India.

To ensure that DMEO is able to function independently and effectively, it has been provided with separate budgetary allocations and manpower in addition to complete functional autonomy.

The DMEO has been mandated to actively monitor and evaluate the implementation of the programmes and initiatives of the Government of India, including the identification of the needed resources so as to strengthen the probability of the success and scope of delivery.

Solution: A

Independence and Impartiality

As the office of the Speaker is vested with great prestige, position and authority, independence and impartiality become its sine qua non. The following provisions ensure the independence and impartiality of the office of the Speaker:

1. He is provided with a security of tenure. He can be removed only by a resolution passed by the Lok Sabha by a special majority (ie, a majority of all the then members of the House) and not by an ordinary majority (ie, a majority of the members present and voting in the House). This motion of

removal can be considered and discussed only when it has the support of at least 50 members.

2. His salaries and allowances are fixed by Parliament. They are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India and thus are not subject to the annual vote of Parliament.

3. His work and conduct cannot be discussed and criticized in the Lok Sabha except on a substantive motion.

4. His powers of regulating procedure or conducting business or maintaining order in the House are not subject to the jurisdiction of any Court.

5. He cannot vote in the first instance. He can only exercise a casting vote in the event of a tie. This makes the position of Speaker impartial.

6. He is given a very high position in the order of precedence. He is placed at seventh rank, along with the Chief Justice of India. This means, he has a higher rank than all cabinet ministers, except the Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister.

In Britain, the Speaker is strictly a nonparty man. There is a convention that the Speaker has to resign from his party and remain politically neutral.

This healthy convention is not fully established in India where the Speaker does not resign from the membership of his party on his election to the exalted office.

Solution: C

All the above statements are correct.

The Secretariat of Rajya Sabha was set up pursuant to the provisions contained in Article 98 of the Constitution. The said Article, which provides for a separate secretarial staff for each House of Parliament, reads as follows: – “98. Secretariat of Parliament –

(1) Each House of Parliament shall have a separate secretarial staff:  Provided that nothing in this clause shall be construed as preventing the creation of posts common to both Houses of Parliament. (2) Parliament may by law regulate the recruitment and the conditions of service of persons appointed to the secretarial staff of either House of Parliament. (3) Until provision is made by Parliament under clause

(2), the President may, after consultation with the Speaker of the House of the People or the Chairman of the Council of States, as the case may be, make rules regulating the recruitment and the conditions of service of persons appointed to the secretarial staff of the House of the People or the Council of States and any rules so made shall have effect subject to the provisions of any law made under the said clause.”

Solution: C

Committee on Government Assurances of Rajya Sabha

There shall be a Committee on Government Assurances to scrutinize the assurances, promises, undertakings, etc., given by Ministers, from time to time, on the floor of the Council and to report on-

(a) the extent to which such assurances, promises, undertakings, etc., have been implemented and

(b) when implemented whether such implementation has taken place within the minimum time necessary for the purpose.

Constitution

(1) The Committee shall consist of ten members who shall be nominated by the Chairman. Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.

(2) The Committee nominated under sub-rule (1) shall hold office until a new Committee is nominated.

(3) Casual vacancies in the Committee shall be filled by the Chairman.

Chairman of Committee

(1) The Chairman of the Committee shall be appointed by the Chairman from amongst the members of the Committee:

Provided that it the Deputy Chairman is a member of the Committee he shall be appointed Chairman of the Committee.

(2) if the Chairman of the Committee is for any reason unable to act, the Chairman may similarly appoint another Chairman of the Committee in his place.

(3) If the Chairman of the Committee is absent from any meeting, the Committee shall choose another member to act as Chairman of the Committee for that meeting.

Quorum

(1) In order to constitute a meeting of the Committee, the quorum shall be five.

(2) The Chairman of the Committee shall not vote in the first instance but in the case of an equality of votes on any matter, he shall have, and exercise, a casting vote.

Solution: D

Forty-Fourth Amendment Act, 1978

1. Restored the original term of the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies (i.e., 5 years).”
2. Restored the provisions with regard to quorum in the Parliament and state legislatures.
3. Omitted the reference to the British House of Commons in the provisions pertaining to the parliamentary privileges.
4. Gave constitutional protection to publication in newspaper of true reports of the proceedings of the Parliament and the state legislatures.
5. Empowered the president to send back once the advice of cabinet for reconsideration. But, the reconsidered advice is to be binding on the president.
6. Deleted the provision which made the satisfaction of the president, governor and administrators final in issuing ordinances.
7. Restored some of the powers of the Supreme Court and high courts.
8. Replaced the term “internal disturbance” by “armed rebellion” in respect of national emergency.
9. Made the President to declare a national emergency only on the written recommendation of the cabinet.
10. Made certain procedural safeguards with respect to national emergency and President’s rule.
11. Deleted the right to property from the list of Fundamental Rights and made it only a legal right.
12. Provided that the fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 20 and 21 cannot be suspended during a national emergency.
13. Omitted the provisions which took away the power of the court to decide the election disputes of the president, the vice-president, the prime minister and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Solution: A

Fundamental Duties

The original constitution did not provide for the Fundamental Duties of the citizens. These were added during the operation of internal emergency (1975–77) by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee. The 86th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2002 added one more fundamental duty.

The Part IV-A of the Constitution (which consists of only one Article 51-A) specifies the eleven Fundamental Duties viz., to respect the Constitution, national flag and national anthem; to protect the sovereignty, unity and integrity of the country; to promote the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people; to preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture and so on.

The fundamental duties serve as a reminder to citizens that while enjoying their rights, they have also to be quite conscious of duties they owe to their country, their society and to their fellow citizens. However, like the Directive Principles, the duties are also non-justiciable in nature.

Solution: C

The Central Information Commission was established by the Central Government in 2005. It was constituted through an Official Gazette Notification under the provisions of the Right to Information Act (2005). Hence, it is not a constitutional body. The Central Information Commission is a high-powered independent body which inter alia looks into the complaints made to it and decide the appeals.

The Commission consists of a Chief Information Commissioner and not more than ten Information Commissioners. The Commission, when constituted initially, had five commissioners including the Chief Information Commissioner. At present (2019), the Commission has six Information Commissioners apart from the Chief Information Commissioner.

They are appointed by the President on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister.

Solution: D

The All-India Services Act of 1951 authorized the Central government to make rules in consultation with the state governments for the regulation of recruitment and service conditions of the members of all-India services. The members of these services are recruited and trained by the Central government but are assigned to different states for work. They belong to different state cadres; the Centre having no cadre of its own in this regard. They serve the Central government on deputation and after completing their fixed tenure they go back to their respective states. The Central government obtains the services of these officers on deputation under the well-known tenure system. It must be noted here that irrespective of their division among different states, each of these all-India services form a single service with common rights and status and uniform scales of pay throughout the country.

Their salaries and pensions are met by the states.

The all-India services are controlled jointly by the Central and state governments. The ultimate control lies with the Central government while the immediate control is vested in the state governments.

Any disciplinary action (imposition of penalties) against these officers can only be taken by the Central government.

Solution: B

Parliament’s power to reorganise the states

Article 3 authorises the Parliament to:

(a) form a new state by separation of territory from any state or by uniting two or more states or parts of states or by uniting any territory to a part of any state;

(b) increase the area of any state;

(c) diminish the area of any state;

(d) alter the boundaries of any state; and

(e) alter the name of any state.

However, Article 3 lays down two conditions in this regard: one, a bill contemplating the above changes can be introduced in the Parliament only with the prior recommendation of the President; and two, before recommending the bill, the President has to refer the same to the state legislature concerned for expressing its views within a specified period.

Further, the power of Parliament to form new states includes the power to form a new state or union territory by uniting a part of any state or union territory to any other state or union territory.

The President (or Parliament) is not bound by the views of the state legislature and may either accept or reject them, even if the views are received in time. Further, it is not necessary to make a fresh reference to the state legislature every time an amendment to the bill is moved and accepted in Parliament. In case of a union territory, no reference need be made to the concerned legislature to ascertain its views and the Parliament can itself take any action as it deems fit.

Solution: B

Property of the union and the states

Sea-Wealth

All lands, minerals and other things of value under the waters of the ocean within the territorial waters of India, the continental shelf of India and the exclusive economic zone of India vests in the Union. Hence, a state near the ocean cannot claim jurisdiction over these things.

Compulsory Acquisition by Law

The Parliament as well as the state legislatures are empowered to make laws for the compulsory acquisition and requisitioning of private property by the governments. Further, the 44^th Amendment Act (1978) has also abolished the constitutional obligation to pay compensation in this regard except in two cases:

(a) when the government acquires the property of a minority educational institution; and (b) when the government acquires the land held by a person under his personal cultivation and the land is within the statutory ceiling limits.

Solution: C

The Constitution confers the following rights and privileges on the citizens of India (and denies the same to aliens):

1. Right against discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15).
2. Right to equality of opportunity in the matter of public employment (Article 16).
3. Right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence and profession (Article 19).
4. Cultural and educational rights (Articles 29 and 30).
5. Right to vote in elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly.
6. Right to contest for the membership of the Parliament and the state legislature.
7. Eligibility to hold certain public offices, that is, President of India, Vice-President of India, judges of the Supreme Court and the high courts, Governor of states, Attorney General of India and Advocate General of states.

Along with the above rights, the citizens also owe certain duties towards the Indian State, as for example, paying taxes, respecting the national flag and national anthem, defending the country and so on. In India both a citizen by birth as well as a naturalised citizen are eligible for the office of President while in USA, only a citizen by birth and not a naturalised citizen is eligible for the office of President.

Solution: A

Solution:

• Hogrekan in Chikmagalur, Karnataka
• The Shola vegetation of Hogrekan is home to a number of unique medicinal plants. Shola forests are stunted tropical montane forests, interspersed by undulating grasslands. Due to its proximity to Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary and Yemmedode Tiger Reserve, it also serves as an important wildlife corridor. A lot of floral species from this site have medicinal values and are endemic in nature. According to some studies, these Shola grasslands are thousands of years old.

Solution: A

Solution:

• Radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG, RITEG) is a type of nuclear battery that uses an array of thermocouples to convert the heat released by the decay of a suitable radioactive material into electricity by the Seebeck effect. This type of generator has no moving parts.

RTGs have been used as power sources in satellites, space probes, and uncrewed remote facilities such as a series of lighthouses built by the Soviet Union inside the Arctic Circle. RTGs are usually the most desirable power source for unmaintained situations that need a few hundred watts (or less) of power for durations too long for fuel cells, batteries, or generators to provide economically, and in places where solar cells are not practical. Safe use of RTGs requires containment of the radioisotopes long after the productive life of the unit. The expense of RTGs tends to limit their use to niche applications in rare or special situations.

Solution: B

Solution:

• It is classified into Four Categories- Yellow, Red, White and Blue.

• Soiled Waste: Items contaminated with blood, body fluids like dressings, plaster casts, cotton swabs and bags containing residual or discarded blood and blood components are classified as Yellow .

Solution: D

Solution:

• Goa, a State on the southwestern coast of India, gets its second GI tag on Agricultural product ‘Khola Chilli’ after receiving its first GI tag on Manufactured alcoholic beverage ‘Feni’ in March 2009.

Solution: C

Solution:

Answer B

50-100cm annual rainfall and 15-20oC temperature during the growth period is ideal.

Tobacco cannot sustain in rainfall more than 100cm

Answer C

Wetlands are “nurseries of life” – 40% of animals breed in wetlands.

Wetlands are “kidneys of the earth” – they clean the environment of pollutants.

Wetlands “matter for climate change” – they store 30% of land-based carbon.

Wetlands “minimize disaster risks” – they absorb storm surge.

Answer D

The NSG is trained to conduct counter-terrorist tasks, including countering hijackings on the land, sea, and air

It was founded on 16 October 1984 under the National Security Guard Act, 1986

The National Security Guard (NSG) is an elite counter-terrorism unit under the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Answer C

NITI Aayog has launched a Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) for providing an ecosystem for budding & existing women entrepreneurs across the country. SIDBI has partnered with NITI Aayog to assist in this initiative.

Answer C

It provides statutory authority to Project Tiger so that compliance with its directives become legal.

It addresses the livelihood interests of local people in areas surrounding Tiger Reserves.

Answer : C

Solution :  Let the given work be finished in n days.

Total men * day required to finish the task = 150 x n=150n

in the condition 4 workers, dropped but every day and took 8 more days to finish the work which follows  AP

150,  150 + (-4),  150+2 x (-4),……,150 +(n+8)(-4)

in both condition,  man day should be equal.

i,e s_n=150n

₌       (n+8)/2 [2 x150 +(n+8-1) (-4)  =150n

=       (n+8)/2 [300+(n+7) (-4)  =150n

=      (n+8) (272 – 4n) = 300n

=    272n-4n²    +2176-32n=300n

=     4n² + 60n – 2176 = 0

=      n²  + 15n – 544 = 0

=      n=17

Total number of days in which the work was completed = n+ 8 = 25

Answer : C

Solution : -From Statements 1 and 2

mn=221 = 17 x 13

m = 17 and n=13

Total number of games^{=    13}C_{2 =} = 78

Hence, the total number of students that participated in the competition is 30 in tabular (17 + 13) and the number of games in which both players were girls, is 78.

Answer : (c)

Solutions: According to the Venn diagram,

60 students

Students opted for NCC or NSS = 6+ 24 + 8= 38

Required probability = 38/60 = 19/30

Answer :(b)

Solution:  Let the age of daughter 4 yr ago be x.

Then, age of the mother 4 yr. ago = 2 3/4x = 11/4 x

Total age of the daughter and the mother 4 yr ago

= x + 11/4 x = 15/4 x

According to the question, 15/4 x = 60 => x = 16

Present  age of the daughter =16 + 4 = 20 yr

Answer : (b)

Solution:  It rightfully questions the objectivity of a company administered poll, a relevant ground for criticism.