UPSC Essentials: Daily Subject-wise quiz — Polity and Governance (Week 4)

Each day, we will cover one new subject. Attempt today’s subject quiz on Polity and Governance to check your progress. Come back tomorrow to solve the MCQs on History, Culture and Social Issues. Don’t miss checking the answers and explanations at the end of the quiz.

QUESTION 1

Consider the following:

1. Separation of Power

2. Unity and integrity of the Nation

3. Federal character of the Constitution

4. Judicial Review

Which of the above are parts of the “Basic Structure” evolved during Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala?

(a) 2 and 4 only

(b) 1, 3 and 4 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

QUESTION 2

With reference to the committee for appointment of Elections Commissioners and Chief Election Commissioners, consider the following statements:

1. It consists of the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and Four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.

2. In the absence of the Leader of Opposition, the committee will include the leader of the largest Opposition party in Lok Sabha in terms of numerical strength.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

QUESTION 3

S3WAAS is often heard in the news. It is best described as:

(a) It is a cloud service developed for government entities to generate Secure, Scalable and Sugamya (Accessible) websites.

(b) It is a database created through National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

(c) It is a tool for Judiciary for effective court management.

(d) It is a national e-governance project for ICT enablement.

QUESTION 4

With reference to the  Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022, consider the following statements:

1. It allows collection of certain identifiable information such as fingerprints and biological samples from convicts.

2. It empowers a magistrate to order measurements or photographs of a person to be taken to aid the investigation of an offence.

3. In case of acquittal or discharge of the person, all material must be kept safe.

4. The act has replaced the Identification of Prisoners Act, of 1920.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1, 2 and 3 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(c) 2, 3 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2 and 4 only

QUESTION 5

Which of the following statements is not correct about the Governor of an Indian State?

(a) State Governor shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.

(b) The qualification and condition of the office are mentioned in the constitution.

(c) Governor shall hold office for a fixed period of five years.

(d) There is no impeachment process for removing the Governor.

QUESTION 6

Which of the following States is not included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India?

(a) Tripura

(b) Mizoram

(c) Manipur

(d) Assam

QUESTION 7

With reference to the Vice-President of India, consider the following statements:

1. He/She is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament.

2. The system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote is used in the election.

3. All doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with the election of a President or Vice-President shall be inquired into and decided by the Election Commission of India.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 2 and 3 only

(b) 1, 2 and 3

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1 and 2 only

QUESTION 8

Consider the following statements about Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs):

1. These are the the parties registered under Representation of People Act, 1950.

2. They are eligible to get free authorisation for broadcast and telecast facilities over All India Radio.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWERS TO MCQ

1. (d)

FYI:

— The seminal ruling in Kesavananda Bharati, in which the Supreme Court laid down the “basic structure” doctrine on the limits of Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution, completes 50 years.

— The Doctrine of Basic Structure is a form of judicial review used to test the legality of any legislation by the courts.

— The doctrine was evolved by the Supreme Court in the 1973 landmark ruling in Kesavananda Bharati v State of Kerala. In a 7-6 verdict, a 13-judge Constitution Bench ruled that the ‘basic structure’ of the Constitution is inviolable, and could not be amended by Parliament.

— If a law is found to “damage or destroy” the “basic features of the Constitution”, the Court declares it unconstitutional. The test is applied to constitutional amendments to ensure the amendment does not dilute the fundamentals of the Constitutional itself.

— In the Kesavananda ruling, the Supreme Court cited several aspects of the Constitution that could be identified as “basic features” of the document like judicial review, the rule of law, federalism, the supremacy of the Constitution, republican and democratic forms of government, secular character of the Constitution, separation of powers between the legislature, executive and the judiciary, the mandate to build a welfare state contained in the Directive Principles of State Policy, unity and integrity of the nation, the sovereignty of India, unity of the country, three organs of the State are identified as basic features.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: constitutionnet.org)

2. (b)

FYI:

— A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a high-power committee for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs).

— They will be appointed on the advice of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India.

— The Bench presided over by Justice K M Joseph said where no Leader of Opposition is available, the committee will include the leader of the largest Opposition party in Lok Sabha in terms of numerical strength.

— Four of the five judges on the bench rejected the prayer to grant the same protection as is available to the CEC in the matter of removal from office to the ECs.

— The Supreme Court ruling will bring to an end the decades-old practice of the CEC and ECs being appointed on the advice of the Council of Ministers, as is laid down in the Constitution.

Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.

3. (a)

FYI:

— S3WaaS is a cloud service developed for government entities to generate Secure, Scalable, and Sugamya (Accessible) websites.

— It enables government entities to choose from various themes for generating websites as well as customizing and managing the content easily, thus empowering them to maintain their online presence.

— Government entities requiring websites that are primarily informational can use the S3WaaS framework to generate and host the website under GOV.IN or NIC.IN domain.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

(Source: s3waas.gov.in)

4. (d)

FYI:

— Indian President Ram Nath Kovind has given his assent to the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, which empowers police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and those accused of crimes. The act came into force on April 18, 2022.

— The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022, allows police officers or prison officers to collect certain identifiable information (such as fingerprints, and biological samples) from convicts or those who have been arrested for an offence.

— The Act replaces the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920

— Apart from providing legal sanction to police to obtain physical and biological samples of convicts and detainees for investigation in criminal matters, the legislation also empowers a magistrate to order measurements or photographs of a person to be taken to aid the investigation of an offence.

— In case of acquittal or discharge of the person, all material must be destroyed.

— The Act explained the types of data that may be collected, the people from whom such data may be collected, and the authority that can authorise such collection.

— It also provides for the data to be stored in a central database.

— The Rules empower the NCRB to specify guidelines for taking measurements, handling, storage, processing, matching, destruction and disposal of these records.  

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

(Other Source: prsindia.org)

5. (c)

FYI:

— The Article 153 of the Constitution says “There shall be a Governor for each State.” A few years after the commencement of the Constitution, an amendment in 1956 laid down that “nothing in this article shall prevent the appointment of the same person as Governor for two or more States”.

— Article 155 says that the “Governor of a State shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal”. Under Article 156, “the Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President”, but his normal term of office will be five years. If the President withdraws her pleasure before the completion of five years, the Governor has to step down.

— Since the President acts on the aid and advice of the Prime Minister and the Union Council of Ministers, in effect, the Governor is appointed and removed by the central government.

— Article 157 lays down the qualifications of the Governor, The Governor must be a citizen of India and should have completed the age of 35 years.

— Article 158 lays down the conditions of his office, The Governor should not be a member of Parliament or a state legislature, and must not hold any other office of profit.

— The Governor enjoys certain powers under the Constitution — such as giving or withholding assent to a Bill passed by the state legislature; determining the time needed for a party to prove its majority in the state Assembly; or, in cases such as a hung verdict in an election, which party must be called first to prove its majority — which make his position very significant.

— The Constitution lays down no provisions for the manner in which the Governor and the state must engage publicly when there is a difference of opinion and there is no provision for impeaching the Governor.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

6. (c)

FYI:

— BJP MP from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal on Tuesday demanded that the region be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to safeguard the land, employment, and cultural identity of the local population.

— The Sixth Schedule under Article 244 provides for the formation of autonomous administrative divisions — Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) — that have some legislative, judicial, and administrative autonomy within a state.

— ADCs have up to 30 members with a term of five years and can make laws, rules, and regulations with regard to land, forest, water, agriculture, village councils, health, sanitation, village and town-level policing, inheritance, marriage and divorce, social customs and mining, etc.

— The Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam is an exception with more than 40 members and the right to make laws on 39 issues.

— The Sixth Schedule applies to the Northeastern states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram (three Councils each), and Tripura (one Council).

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

7. (d)

FYI:

— Article 66 lays down the process of the election of the Vice-President. It says the Vice-President “shall be elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the members of both Houses of Parliament in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the voting at such election shall be by secret ballot”.

— The Vice-President “shall not be a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of the Legislature of any State”. If a member of any of these Houses is elected to the post, “he shall be deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date on which he enters upon his office as Vice-President”.

Eligibility and term of office

— Article 66(3) says “No person shall be eligible for election as Vice-President unless he —

(a) is a citizen of India

(b) has completed the age of thirty-five years

(c) is qualified for election as a member of the Council of States.

— Under Article 66(4), “A person shall not be eligible for election as Vice-President if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State or under any local or other authority subject to the control of any of the said Governments.”

— Article 67 lays down that the “Vice-President shall hold office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office”. However, the Vice-President “shall, notwithstanding the expiration of his term, continue to hold office until his successor enters upon his office”.

— The Vice-President may leave office before the end of his term by resigning to the President, or he “may be removed…by a resolution of the Council of States passed by a majority of all the then members of the Council and agreed to by the House of the People”.

Election Dispute

— Article 71 of the Constitution deals with “Matters relating to, or connected with, the election of a President or Vice-President”. It says that “all doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with the election of a President or Vice-President shall be inquired into and decided by the Supreme Court whose decision shall be final”.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

8. (d)

FYI:

— The Income Tax (IT) Department conducted raids in multiple states as part of a pan-India tax evasion probe against certain registered unrecognised political parties (RUPPs) and their alleged dubious financial transactions.

— Election Commission data till September 2021 showed 2,796 RUPPs in the country — an increase of more than 300% since 2001.

Recognised Parties

— It is not mandatory to register with the Election Commission but registered political parties can avail the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (relating to registration of political parties).

— As per the Election Commission, any party seeking registration has to submit an application within a period of 30 days following the date of its formation. These powers are conferred upon it by Article 324 of the Constitution and Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Unrecognised Parties

— Unrecognised parties can be newly registered parties or those which have not secured enough percentage of votes in the Assembly or general elections to fulfill the prescribed criteria to become a state party.

— They are not entitled to an exclusive allotment of a reserved election symbol. They have to choose from a list of ‘free symbols’ issued by the Commission.

— They are not eligible either to get free copies of electoral rolls, free authorisation for broadcast / telecast facilities over All India Radio / Doordarshan during Assembly and general elections, and are not eligible for subsidised land for party offices.

Therefore, option (d) is the correct answer.

Previous Quizzes:

Polity and Governance (Week 2)

Polity and Governance (Week 3)

History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 2)

History, Culture, and Social Issues (Week 3)

UPSC Weekly Quiz (Current Affairs)

UPSC Essentials: Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 2)

UPSC Essentials: Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 3)

UPSC Essentials: Daily subject-wise quiz — Economy (Week 4)

Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 1)

Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 2)

Environment, Geography, Science and Technology (Week 3)

International Relations (Week 1)

International Relations (Week 2)

International Relations (Week 3)

International Relations (Week 4)

Tomorrow’s Quiz: History, Culture and Social Issues

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