[DAY 26] 60 DAY RAPID REVISION (RaRe) SERIES for UPSC Prelims 2022 – POLITY, CURRENT AFFAIRS & CSAT; Test Series, Videos & Notes!

Solution (c)

Basic Info:

The governor is neither directly elected by the people nor indirectly elected by a specially constituted electoral college as is the case with the president.

He is appointed by the president by warrant under his hand and seal.

In a way, he is a nominee of the Central government. But, as held by the Supreme Court in 1979, the office of governor of a state is not an employment under the Central government.

It is an independent constitutional office and is not under the control of or subordinate to the Central government.

Two conventions have developed over qualification for the appointment of the Governor.

• First, he should be an outsider, that is, he should not belong to the state where he is appointed, so that he is free from the local politics.
• Second, while appointing the governor, the president is required to consult the chief minister of the state concerned, so that the smooth functioning of the constitutional machinery in the state is ensured.

Solution (c)

Basic Info:

The oath of office to the governor is administered by the chief justice of the concerned state high court and in his absence, the senior-most judge of that court available.

A governor holds office for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office. However, this term of five years is subject to the pleasure of the President.

He can resign at any time by addressing a resignation letter to the President.

The Constitution does not lay down any grounds upon which a governor may be removed by the President.

The President may transfer a Governor appointed to one state to another state for the rest of the term.

Further, a Governor whose term has expired may be reappointed in the same state or any other state.

A governor can hold office beyond his term of five years until his successor assumes charge. The underlying idea is that there must be a governor in the state and there cannot be an interregnum.

Solution (b)

Basic Info:

 He nominates one-sixth of the members of the state legislative council from amongst persons having special knowledge or practical experience in literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service.

He can nominate one member to the state legislature assembly from the Anglo-Indian Community.

He decides on the question of disqualification of members of the state legislature in consultation with the Election Commission.

He can promulgate ordinances when the state legislature is not in session. These ordinances must be approved by the state legislature within six weeks from its reassembly. He can also withdraw an ordinance anytime.

Solution (d)

Basic Info:

When a bill is sent to the governor after it is passed by state legislature, he can:

• Give his assent to the bill
• Withhold his assent to the bill
• Return the bill (if it is not a money bill) for reconsideration of the state legislature. However, if the bill is passed again by the state legislature with or without amendments, the governor has to give his assent to the bill.
• Reserve the bill for the consideration of the president. In one case such reservation is obligatory, that is, where the bill passed by the state legislature endangers the position of the state high court.

In addition, the governor can also reserve the bill if it is of the following nature:

• Ultra-vires, that is, against the provisions of the Constitution.
• Opposed to the Directive Principles of State Policy.
• Against the larger interest of the country.
• Of grave national importance.
• Dealing with compulsory acquisition of property under Article 31A of the Constitution.

Solution (b)

Basic Info:

he Constitution does not contain any specific procedure for the selection and appointment of the Chief Minister. Article 164 only says that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the governor.

In accordance with the convections of the parliamentary system of government, the governor has to appoint the leader of the majority party in the state legislative assembly as the Chief Minister

But, when no party has a clear majority in the assembly, then the governor may exercise his personal discretion in the selection and appointment of the Chief Minister

In such a situation, the governor usually appoints the leader of the largest party or coalition in the assembly as the Chief Minister and ask him to seek a vote of confidence in the House within a month.

A person who is not a member of the state legislature can be appointed as Chief Minister for six months, within which time, he should be elected to the state legislature, failing which he ceases to be the Chief Minister.

Solution (c)

Basic Info:

Chief Minister of state is not allowed to vote in Presidential election if he/she is the member of the state legislative council.

Following can vote in the Presidential election:

• Elected members of both the House of Parliament.
• Elected members of the legislative assemblies of the state.
• Elected members of the legislative assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry.

Following are not eligible to vote in the Presidential election:

• Nominated members of both the House of Parliament.
• Nominated members of the legislative assemblies of the state.
• The members (both elected and nominated) of the state legislative council (in case of the bicameral legislature).
• Nominated members of the legislative assemblies of the Delhi and Puducherry.

Solution (d)

Basic Info:

Creation/ Abolition of State Legislative Councils:
The power of abolition and creation of the State legislative council is vested in Parliament of India as per article 169. But again, to create or to abolish a state legislative council, the
state legislative assembly must pass a resolution, which must be supported by majority of the strength of the house and 2/3rd majority of the members present and voting (Absolute + Special Majority).

When a legislative council is created or abolished, the Constitution of India is also changed. However, such type of law is not considered a Constitution Amendment Bill. (Article 169). The resolution to create and abolish a state legislative council is to be assented by the President also.

Solution (a)

Basic Info:

Special Provision for Delhi:

The 69^th  Constitutional Amendment Act of 1991 provided a special status to the Union Territory of Delhi, and redesignated it as the National Capital Territory of Delhi and designated
the administrator of Delhi as the lieutenant (lt.) governor.

The chief minister is appointed by the President (not by the lt. governor). The other ministers are appointed by the president on the advice of the chief minister. The ministers hold office during the pleasure of the president. The council of ministers is collectively responsible to the
assembly.

Solution (a)

Basic Info:

 The following are the other matters where the powers and status of the council are broadly equal to that of the assembly:
1. Approval of ordinances issued by the governor.
2. Selection of ministers including the chief minister. Under the Constitution the, ministers including the chief minister can be members of either House of the state legislature. However, irrespective of their membership, they are responsible only to the assembly.
3. Consideration of the reports of the constitutional bodies like State Finance Commission, state public service commission and Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
4. Enlargement of the jurisdiction of the state public service commission.

In case of introduction and passage of ordinary bills, the powers and status of the council are broadly equal to that of the assembly. However, in case of disagreement between the two Houses, the will of the assembly prevails over that of the council. Hence, statement (3) is wrong.

Solution (d)

Basic Info:

The legislative assembly consists of representatives directly elected by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise.

Further, some members of the legislative assemblies in Sikkim and Nagaland are also elected indirectly.

However, in other cases either members are directly elected or nominated (i.e. Anglo-Indians)

Its maximum strength is fixed at 500 and minimum strength at 60. It means that its strength varies from 60 to 500 depending on the population size of the state.

However, in case of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Goa, the minimum number is fixed at 30 and in case of Mizoram and Nagaland, it is 40 and 46 respectively.

Solution (c)

Basic Info:

It was launched by Ministry of Finance in April 2016 to promote entrepreneurship at the grass-root level focusing on economic empowerment and job creation.

It aims to leverage the institutional credit structure to reach out to the underserved sector of people such as SCs, STs and Women Entrepreneurs.

The objective of this scheme is to facilitate bank loans between Rs.10 lakh and Rs.1 crore to at least one SC or ST borrower and at least one woman borrower per bank branch of Scheduled Commercial Banks for setting up a Greenfield enterprise.

Loans under the scheme are available for only Greenfield projects.

In case of non-individual enterprises, at least 51% of the shareholding and controlling stake should be held by either an SC/ST or Woman entrepreneur.

Borrower should not be in default to any bank or financial institution.

The offices of SIDBI (Small Industries Development Bank of India) and NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) are designated Stand-Up Connect Centres (SUCC).

Solution (a)

Basic Info:

The Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is a flagship initiative set up by the NITI Aayog in 2016 to promote innovation and entrepreneurship across the length and breadth of the country.

AlM’s objectives are to create and promote an ecosystem of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country at school, university, research institutions, MSME and industry levels.

The Atal Innovation Mission has following two core functions:

• Entrepreneurship promotion through Self-Employment and Talent Utilization, wherein innovators would be supported and mentored to become successful entrepreneurs.
• Innovation promotion: to provide a platform where innovative ideas are generated.

The intended targets that will be achieved by AIM are:

• Establishing 10000 Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs),
• Establishing 101 Atal Incubation Centers (AICs),
• Establishing 50 Atal Community Innovation Centers (ACICs) and
• Supporting 200 startups via the Atal New India Challenges.

Solution (c)

Basic Info:

Every union territory is administered by the President acting through an administrator appointed by him. An administrator of a union territory is an agent of the President and not head of state like a governor.

The Parliament can make laws on any subject of the three lists (including the State List) for the union territories. This power of Parliament also extends to Puducherry and Delhi, which have their own local legislatures.

The Parliament can establish a high court for a union territory or put it under the jurisdiction of the high court of adjacent state. Delhi is the only union territory that has a high court of its own (since 1966).

Solution (b)

Basic Info:

The 69th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1991 provided a special status to the Union Territory of Delhi, and redesignated it the National Capital Territory of Delhi and designated the administrator of Delhi as the lieutenant (lt.) governor.

It created a legislative assembly and a council of ministers for Delhi. Previously, Delhi had a metropolitan council and an executive council.

The strength of the assembly is fixed at 70 members, directly elected by the people. The elections are conducted by the election commission of India.

The assembly can make laws on all the matters of the State List and the Concurrent List except the three matters of the State List, that is, public order, police and land. But, the laws of Parliament prevail over those made by the Assembly.

The strength of the council of ministers is fixed at ten per cent of the total strength of the assembly, that is, seven—one chief minister and six other ministers.

The council of ministers headed by the chief minister aid and advise the lt. governor in the exercise of his functions except in so far as he is required to act in his discretion. In the case of difference of opinion between the lt. governor and his ministers, the lt. governor is to refer the matter to the president for decision and act accordingly.

In case of failure of constitutional machinery, the president can impose his rule in the
territory. This can be done on the report of the lt. governor or otherwise. This provision resembles Article 356 which deals with the imposition of President’s Rule in the states.
The lt. governor is empowered to promulgate ordinances during recess of the assembly. An ordinance has the same force as an act of the assembly.

Every such ordinance must be approved by the assembly within six weeks from its reassembly. He can also withdraw an ordinance at any time. But, he cannot promulgate an ordinance when the assembly is dissolved or suspended. Further, no such ordinance can be promulgated or withdrawn without the prior permission of the President.

Solution (b)

Basic Info:

The council of ministers headed by the chief minister aid and advice the lt. governor in the
exercise of his functions except in so far as he is required to act in his discretion.

In the case of difference of opinion between the lt. governor and his ministers, the lt. governor
is to refer the matter to the president for decision and act accordingly.

Solution (b)

Basic Info:

The Chairman is elected by the council itself from amongst its members

As a presiding officer, the powers and functions of the Chairman in the council are similar to those of the Speaker in the assembly. However, the Speaker has one special power which is not enjoyed by the Chairman. The Speaker decides whether a bill is a Money Bill or not and his decision on this question is final.

As in the case of the Speaker, the salaries and allowances of the Chairman are also fixed
by the state legislature. They are charged on the Consolidated Fund of the State and thus
are not subject to the annual vote of the state legislature.

He resigns by writing to the Deputy Chairman. He can be removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the council.

Solution (b)

Basic Info:

Of the total number of members of a legislative council:

1/3 are elected by the members of local bodies in the state like municipalities, district boards, etc.,

1/12 are elected by graduates of three years standing and residing within the state,

1/12 are elected by teachers of three years standing in the state, not lower in standard
than secondary school,

1/3 are elected by the members of the legislative assembly of the state from amongst persons who are not members of the assembly, and

The remainder (1/6) are nominated by the governor from amongst persons who have a special knowledge or practical experience of literature, science, art, cooperative movement and social service.

Thus, 5/6 of the total numbers of members of a legislative council are indirectly elected
and 1/6 are nominated by the governor.

The members are elected in accordance with the system of proportional representation by
means of a single transferable vote.

Solution (c)

Basic Info:

The Constitution does not provide for the mechanism of joint sitting of two Houses of the
state legislature to resolve a deadlock between them over the passage of a bill.

The legislative assembly can override the legislative council by passing the bill for the
second time.

When a bill is passed by the assembly for the second time and transmitted to the legislative council, if the legislative council rejects the bill again, or proposes amendments that are not acceptable to the legislative assembly, or does not pass the bill within one month, then the bill is deemed to have been passed by both the Houses in the form in which it was passed by the legislative assembly for the second time.

Solution (c)

Basic Info:

National Health Mission  was launched by the government of India in 2013 subsuming the National Rural Health Mission (Launched in 2005) and the National Urban Health Mission (Launched in 2013).

The main programmatic components include Health System Strengthening in rural and urban areas for Reproductive-Maternal- Neonatal-Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A),  and Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases.

The NHM envisages achievement of universal access to equitable, affordable & quality health care services that are accountable and responsive to people’s needs.

The mission seeks to ensure the achievement of the following indicators:

• Reduce Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) to 1/1000 live births
• Reduce Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) to 25/1000 live births
• Reduce Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to 2.1
• Prevention and reduction of anemia in women aged 15–49 years
• Prevent and reduce mortality & morbidity from communicable, non-communicable; injuries and emerging diseases
• Reduce household out-of-pocket expenditure on total health care expenditure
• Reduce annual incidence and mortality from Tuberculosis by half
• Reduce prevalence of Leprosy to <1/10000 population and incidence to zero in all districts
• Annual Malaria Incidence to be <1/1000
• Less than 1 per cent microfilaria prevalence in all districts

Solution (b)

Basic Info:

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PM-BJP):

It is a campaign launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

It seeks to provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses through special kendra’s known as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra.

Implementing agency: BPPI (Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India) – re-named as the Pharmaceuticals  & Medical Devices Bureau of India (PMBI)

Bureau of Pharma PSUs in India (BPPI) are running Jan Aushadhi Kendras as a part of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana. These are the centers from where quality generic medicines are made available to all.

All the districts of the country have been covered under the scheme.

Effective IT-enabled logistics and supply-chain systems for ensuring real-time distribution of medicines at all outlets have also been introduced.

Key features of the scheme:

• Ensure access to quality medicines.
• Extend coverage of quality generic medicines so as to reduce the out of pocket expenditure on medicines and thereby redefine the unit cost of treatment per person.
• Create awareness about generic medicines through education and publicity so that quality is not synonymous with only high price.
• A public programme involving Government, PSUs, Private Sector, NGO, Societies, Co-operative Bodies and other Institutions.
• Create demand for generic medicines by improving access to better healthcare through low treatment cost and easy availability wherever needed in all therapeutic categories.

Solution (d)

Statement Analysis:

Context – Sudha Bharadwaj was granted Default Bail by Bombay High Court.

Solution (b)

Statement Analysis:

Context – International Solar Alliance(ISA) was conferred observer status by United Nations General Assembly.

Solution (d)

Statement Analysis:

Context – Paytm Payments Bank was accorded scheduled bank status by the Reserve Bank of India.

Solution (b)

Nairobi Declaration outlines how Africa aims to implement Sendai Framework on the continent. Declaration underlined the need to deliver commitments on the Programme of Action (PoA) for implementing the Sendai Framework in Africa.

Context – Nairobi declaration was adopted by African ministers and heads of delegations.

Solution (a)

Statement Analysis:

Context – India’s first; and one of world’s largest Green Hydrogen Microgrid Projects to be set up at Simhadri

Study the bar chart and answer the questions based on it

Solution (d)

Required percentage = ((45-60)/60) = 25%

Therefore, there is a decline of 25% from 1997 to 1998.

Solution (c)

Average production over the given years

= 1/8( 25+ 40+ 60 + 45 + 65 + 50 + 75 + 80) = 55

Therefore, the production has exceeded the average during 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002. So, the answer is four times.

Solution (d)

Average production (in 10000 tonnes) of 1996 and 1997= (40 + 60)/2= 50

We shall find the average production (in 10000 tonnes) for each of the given alternative pairs:

2000 and 2001 = (50 + 75)/2  = 62.5

1999 and 2000 = (65 + 50)/2  = 57.5

1998 and 2000 = (45 + 50)/2  = 47.5

1995 and 1999 = (25 + 65)/2  = 45

1995 and 2001 = (25 + 75)/2  = 50

Therefore ,the average production of 1996 and 1997 is equal to the average production of 1995 and 2001.

Solution (c)

Required percentage = ((80-25)/25)% = 220%

Solution (d)

Refer to the passage below:

‘…to appraise the possibility of making the biometrics-based unique identifier mandatory for claiming refunds. Already the GST Network …has made it mandatory for  new dealers registering under the composition scheme for small businesses  to either authenticate their Aadhaar or submit to  physical verification of their business, …’

On reading the passage carefully, we see all the above remedial measures listed as recommendations to reduce fraudulent activities.

Hence, option d is the correct answer.