[Mission 2023] STATIC QUIZ, 16 May 2023 – Polity

Solution: b)

Indian Councils Act, 1861, made a beginning of representative institutions by associating Indians with the law-making process. It thus provided that the viceroy should nominate some Indians as non-official members of his expanded council.

In 1862, Lord Canning, the then viceroy, nominated three Indians to his legislative council—the Raja of Benaras, the Maharaja of Patiala and Sir Dinkar Rao.

Solution: a)

Constitution specifies the structure, organisation, powers and functions of both the Central and state governments and prescribes the limits within which they must operate. Thus, it avoids the misunderstandings and disagreements between the two. All the laws made in India are codified separate from the constitution and maintained in a law book. They need not be a part of the constitution. Even in the UK where there is no written constitution, people enjoy several fundamental rights. However, only because our fundamental rights are written in the constitution, it is difficult to amend and change them as per the wishes of the political executive.

Solution: c)

As provided by the Constitution, the Speaker of the last Lok Sabha vacates his office immediately before the first meeting of the newly-elected Lok Sabha. Therefore, the President appoints a member of the Lok Sabha as the Speaker Pro Tem. Usually, the senior most member is selected for this.

The President himself administers oath to the Speaker Pro Tem.

The Speaker Pro Tem has all the powers of the Speaker.

Solution: d)

Democracy is of two types—direct and indirect. In direct democracy, the people exercise their supreme power directly as is the case in Switzerland.

There are four devices of direct democracy, namely, Referendum, Initiative, Recall and Plebiscite. In indirect democracy, on the other hand, the representatives elected by the people exercise the supreme power and thus carry on the government and make the laws. This type of democracy, also known as representative democracy, is of two kinds—parliamentary and presidential.

Solution: c)

• First Schedule — Names of the States and their territorial jurisdiction; Names of the Union Territories and their extent.
• Second Schedule — Provisions relating to the emoluments, allowances, privileges and so on of President, Governor, Judges etc.
• Third Schedule — Forms of Oaths or Affirmations for MPs, Ministers, Constitutional functionaries etc.
• Fourth Schedule – Allocation of seats in the Rajya Sabha to the states and the union territories.
• Fifth Schedule – Provisions relating to the administration and control of scheduled areas and scheduled tribes.
• Sixth Schedule – Provisions relating to the administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
• Seventh Schedule – Division of powers between the Union and the States in terms of List I (Union List), List II (State List) and List III (Concurrent List).
• Eighth Schedule – Languages recognized by the Constitution.
• Ninth schedule – Acts & regulation of states dealing with the land reforms & abolition of zamindari system and of the Parliament dealing with other matters. This schedule was added by the 1st Amendment (1951) to protect the laws included in it from judicial scrutiny on the ground of violation of fundamental rights. However, in 2007, the Supreme Court ruled that the laws included in this schedule after April 24, 1973, are now open to judicial review.
• Tenth schedule – Anti-defection provisions
• Eleventh schedule – powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayat
• Twelfth schedule – powers, authority and responsibilities of Municipalities