DAY – 25 (InstaTest-25): Insta 75 Days Revision Plan-2022: Topic – POLITY, Subject-wise Tests 8 & 9, Revision of October & November 2021 CA – INSIGHTSIAS

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

Adjournment

An adjournment suspends the work in a sitting for a specified time, which may be hours, days or weeks. In this case, the time of reassembly is specified.

An adjournment only terminates a sitting and not a session of the House.

The power of adjournment lies with the presiding officer of the House.

It does not affect the bills or any other business pending before the House and the same can be resumed when the House meets again.

Prorogation

Prorogation means the termination of a session of the House by an order made by the President under article 85(2)(a) of the Constitution. Prorogation terminates both the sitting and session of the House.

Usually, within a few days after the House is adjourned sine die by the presiding officer, the President issues a notification for the prorogation of the session. However, the President can also prorogue the House while in session.

It also does not affect the bills or any other business pending before the House. However, all pending notices (other than those for introducing bills) lapse on prorogation and fresh notices have to be given for the next session.

Solution: c

Privilege Motion

It is concerned with the breach of parliamentary privileges by a minister. It is moved by a member when he feels that a minister has committed a breach of privilege of the House or one or more of its members by withholding facts of a case or by giving wrong or distorted facts. Its purpose is to censure the concerned minister.

Solution: a

A whip is an important member of a political party’s parliamentary body, having a central role in ‘Floor Management’ in both the Houses of Parliament and is responsible for discipline within the party. Their main job is ensuring that their members in Parliament and legislature vote in line with the party’s official policy on important issues and make sure that the members turn out for important votes.

Such an importance of Whips in the Parliamentary system had been acknowledged by organizing the First All India Whips Conference at Indore in 1952, in the very first year of general elections to the First Lok Sabha.

Solution: d

Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha

The Deputy Chairman is elected by the Rajya Sabha itself from amongst its members. Whenever the office of the Deputy Chairman falls vacant, the Rajya Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy.

The Deputy Chairman vacates his office in any of the following

three cases:

1. if he ceases to be a member of the Rajya Sabha;
2. if he resigns by writing to the Chairman; and
3. if he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the Rajya Sabha. Such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days’ advance notice.

The Deputy Chairman performs the duties of the Chairman’s office when it is vacant or when the Vice-President acts as President or discharges the functions of the President. He also acts as the Chairman when the latter is absent from the sitting of the House. 

In both the cases, he has all the powers of the Chairman. It should be emphasised here that the Deputy Chairman is not subordinate to the Chairman.

He is directly responsible to the Rajya Sabha.

Like the Chairman, the Deputy Chairman, while presiding over the House, cannot vote in the first instance; he can only exercise a casting vote in the case of a tie. Further, when a resolution for the removal of the Deputy Chairman is under consideration of the House, he cannot preside over a sitting of the House, though he may be present.

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. 
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 

• 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.

• 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.
• 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: b

Money Bills

Article 110 of the Constitution deals with the definition of money bills. It states that a bill is deemed to be a money bill if it contains ‘only’ provisions dealing with all or any of the following matters:

1. The imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax;
2. The regulation of the borrowing of money by the Union government;
3. The custody of the Consolidated Fund of India or the contingency fund of India, the payment of moneys into or the withdrawal of money from any such fund;
4. The appropriation of money out of the Consolidated Fund of India;
5. Declaration of any expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India or increasing the amount of any such expenditure;
6. The receipt of money on account of the Consolidated Fund of India or the public account of India or the custody or issue of such money, or the audit of the accounts of the Union or of a state; or
7. Any matter incidental to any of the matters specified above.

However, a bill is not to be deemed to be a money bill by reason only that it provides for:

1. the imposition of fines or other pecuniary penalties, or
2. the demand or payment of fees for licenses or fees for services rendered; or
3. the imposition, abolition, remission, alteration or regulation of any tax by any local authority or body for local purposes.

Solution: b

General Purposes Committee

This committee considers and advises on matters concerning affairs of the House, which do not fall within the jurisdiction of any other parliamentary committee.

In each House, this committee consists of the presiding officer (Speaker / Chairman) as its ex-officio chairman, Deputy Speaker (Deputy Chairman in the case of Rajya Sabha), members of panel of chairpersons (panel of vice chairpersons in the case of Rajya Sabha), chairpersons of all the departmental standing committees of the House, leaders of recognized parties and groups in the House and such other members as nominated by the presiding officer.

Solution: d

All the above statements are correct.

A cut motion, to be admissible, must satisfy the following conditions:

(i) It should relate to one demand only.

(ii) It should be clearly expressed and should not contain arguments or defamatory statements.

(iii) It should be confined to one specific matter.

(iv) It should not make suggestions for the amendment or repeal of existing laws.

(v) It should not refer to a matter that is not primarily the concern of Union government.

(vi) It should not relate to the expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India.

(vii) It should not relate to a matter that is under adjudication by a court.

(viii) It should not raise a question of privilege.

(ix) It should not revive discussion on a matter on which a decision has been taken in the same session.

(x) It should not relate to a trivial matter.

(xi) It should not reflect on the character or conduct of any person whose conduct can only be challenged on a substantive motion.

(xii) It should not anticipate a matter which has been previously appointed for consideration in the same session.

(xiii) It should not seek to raise a discussion on a matter pending before any statutory tribunal or statutory authority performing judicial or quasi-judicial functions or any commission or court of enquiry.

Solution: c

All the above statements are correct.

Qualifications of Judges

A person to be appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court should have the following qualifications:

1. He should be a citizen of India.
2. (a) He should have been a judge of a High Court (or high courts in succession) for five years; or (b) He should have been an advocate of a High Court (or High Courts in succession) for ten years; or (c) He should be a

distinguished jurist in the opinion of the president. From the above, it is clear that the Constitution has not prescribed a minimum age for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court.

Oath or Affirmation

A person appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court, before entering upon his Office, has to make and subscribe an oath or affirmation before the President, or some person appointed by him for this purpose.

Tenure of Judges

The Constitution has not fixed the tenure of a judge of the Supreme Court. However, it makes the following three provisions in this regard:

1. He holds office until he attains the age of 65 years. Any question regarding his age is to be determined by such authority and in such manner as provided by Parliament.
2. He can resign his office by writing to the president.
3. He can be removed from his office by the President on the recommendation of the Parliament.

Solution: c

Learning: The representatives of each union territory in the Rajya Sabha are indirectly elected by members of an electoral college specially constituted for the purpose.

This election is also held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

Not every UT has a representation in the RS due to size and population constraints.

Q Source: Revision: Chapter – Parliament: Indian Polity: M Laxmikanth

Solution: a

Justification:  The powers and status of the State Legislative council are broadly equal to that of the State Legislative assembly, except in some cases.

Both have equal powers in the consideration of the reports of the constitutional bodies like State Finance Commission, state public service commission and Comptroller and Auditor General of India.

The council can discuss the budget but cannot vote on the demands for grants (which is the exclusive privilege of the assembly).

Similar to passing of a law, ordinances also need to be approved by both houses.

Only the assembly participates in the election of the Rajya Sabha MPs based on proportional representation system (single transferrable votes).

The council has no effective say in the ratification of a constitutional amendment bill. Only the assembly ratifies it.

Q Source: Chapter 29: State Legislature: Indian Polity: M Laxmikanth

Solution: c

Justification: The act lays down that only four-fifths of the members of a district planning committee should be elected by the elected members of the district panchayat and municipalities in the district from amongst themselves.

The representation of these members in the committee should be in proportion to the ratio between the rural and urban populations in the district.

The State Legislature makes provision for rest of the composition of DPC.

The chairperson of such committee shall forward the development plan to the state government.

Q Source: Chapter 35: Municipalities: Indian Polity: M Laxmikanth

Solution: c

Justification: The person can serve as the CM if he is elected as an MLA/MLC within a period of six months. This is similar to the case of the PM who has to become a MP within six months of appointment if he wasn’t before. He can take part in the proceedings of the state legislature in that capacity.

He can be indirectly elected to the legislative council too and remain the Chief Minister.

If he fails to get elected to the State legislature, he will cease to be the Chief Minister of the State.

For example, Bansilal and S B Chavan were appointed as Chief Ministers of Haryana and Maharashtra respectively, even though they were not members of the state legislature. Subsequently, they were elected to the state legislature.

Q Source: Chapter 27: Chief Minister: Indian Polity: M Laxmikanth

Solution: b

Justification: Nagaland is mentioned in all options other than B. Nagaland is not under the 6th schedule, rather special provisions have been earmarked in the constitution for the state. So, B is the answer.

The Governor has a large share of responsibilities with respect to the administration of scheduled areas.

The laws made by the Parliament by be curtailed or applied in some of these regions based on cultural contexts and local traditional laws. More details when we cover scheduled areas.

Q Source: Chapter on Governor: Indian Polity: M Laxmikanth

Solution : a

• The CENTRE has wrapped up transactions worth an estimated Rs 96,000 crore in 2021-22 under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP), surpassing the target of Rs 88,000 crore, according to a government official. The coal and mining sectors, roads and power assets were key to the monetisation target being surpassed last fiscal.
• It is only for brownfield projects and not for greenfield projects.

Solution : b

These are discounted instruments which help the Government in managing its short- term cash flow mismatches.
The Central Government currently issues treasury bills of tenor of 91, 182, and 364 days.

Solution: c

•  The Bill decides to set up state level Medical Boards to decide if a pregnancy may be terminated after 24 weeks in cases of substantial fetal abnormalities.

Solution: a

• Neutrinos are fundamental particles belonging to the lepton family. They come in three flavours, one associated with electrons and the others with their heavier cousins the muon and the Tau.
• Neutrinos are tiny, neutral, elementary particles which interact with matter via the weak force. The weakness of this force gives neutrinos the property that matter is almost transparent to them

Solution: d

The annually held Varuna naval exercise is an integral part of France–India strategic relationship in the 21st century and consists of naval cooperation drills between the French Navy and the Indian Navy. The joint-exercises are held either in the Indian Ocean or Mediterranean Sea with the aim of improving Indo-French coordination on capabilities like cross-deck operations, replenishment-at-sea, minesweeping, anti-submarine warfare and information sharing. It was first started in 1983, though given its present name in 2001. France is the Littoral State of the Indian Ocean through the French Overseas region of Réunion, Mayotte and Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Solution : c

‘Ubharte Sitaare Fund’ has been set up by Exim Bank and SIDBI. The fund is expected to identify Indian enterprises with potential advantages by way of technology, products or processes along with export potential, but which are currently underperforming or unable to tap their latent potential to grow.

Solution : b

Ambergris, French for grey amber, is generally referred to as whale vomit. However, Christopher Kemp, the author of ‘Floating gold: A Natural and (unnatural) history of Ambergris’, says this is not right. A sperm whale eats several thousand squid beaks a day. He says occasionally, a beak makes it way to the whale’s stomach and into its looping convoluted intestines where it becomes ambergris through a complex process, and may ultimately be excreted by the whale.

It is a solid waxy substance that floats around the surface of the water body and at times settles on the coast.

Due to its high value, Ambergris has been a target for smugglers especially in coastal areas. There have been several cases where the coastline of Gujarat has been used for such smuggling.

Solution : c

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released its Annual Frontiers Report named Noise, Blazes and Mismatches
Five Indian cities have been ranked in this list of being among the noisiest cities of the world which are Asansol, Jaipur, Kolkata, New Delhi, and Moradabad.

Solution : c

About UNEP:

Founded in 1972 following the landmark UN Conference on the Human Environment.

UNEP was conceived to monitor the state of the environment, inform policy making with science and coordinate responses to the world’s environmental challenges.

Major Reports: Emission Gap Report, Global Environment Outlook, Frontiers, Invest into Healthy Planet.

Major Campaigns: Beat Pollution, UN75, World Environment Day, Wild for Life.

Solution : d

India and the United Kingdom have launched formal Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations recently, with the aim of concluding an early harvest trade agreement over the next few months.

India is in dialogue with Israel for concluding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

‘Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA)’ is sometimes seen in the news in the

context of negotiations held between India and EU

Solution : b

Explanation
Pipe A’s work in 1 hr = 1/8
Pipe B’s work in 1 hr = 1/6

Pipes (A+B)’s work in first 2 hrs when they are opened alternately = 1/8 + 1/6 = 7 /24

Now,

In 4 hrs they fill : 2 X (7/24) = 7/12
In 6 hrs they fill : 3 X (7/24) = 7/8

After 6 hrs, part left empty = 1/8

Now it is A’s turn to open up.

In one hr it fills 1/8 of the tank

So, the tank will be full in = 6 hrs + 1 hr = 7 hrs

Solution : b

Hint:
Assume the total time required = x + 2 min
Part filled by pipe A in 1min = 1/5 & part filled by B in 1 min = 1/10
After 2 min, part filed by A & B together = 2 [ 1/5 + 1/10] = 3/5

Remaining part = 1 – 3/5 = 2/5
Part filled by pipe B in 1 min = 1/10

Hint: 
Assume that the tank will be full in ’10 + x’ hrs.

Part filled by pipe A in 1 hr = 1/15
Part filled by pipe B in 1 hr = 1/20
Part emptied by pipe C in 1 hr = 1/ 25

(A+ B)’s part filled in 1 hr = 1/15 + 1/20 = 7 /60

As Pipe C is closed after 10 hours, let us find the part of tank filled in 10 hrs.
Tank filled in 10 hrs = 10 (part filled by A in 1 hr + part filled by B in 1 hr– part emptied by C in 1 hr) 
= 10 [1/15 + 1/20 – 1/25] = 23 /30

Solution : c

Solution : b

The passage is a general commentary on the state of the media. The passage is not focussed on explaining the reason behind the fall in media standards, hence c is wrong. D is a generalist statement not conveying the sense of the passage. B is more accurate as compared to A because it is specific about the situation being highlighted in the passage