Question Discussion & Solution

Fundamental rights are the basic human rights enshrined in the Constitution of India which are guaranteed to all citizens. They are applied without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, etc. 

Important Points

The Fundamental Rights have been classified under six categories including the Right to equality which include the following rights:

1. Right to equality (Articles 14–18)
   1. Equality before the law and equal protection of laws (Article 14).
   2. Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth (Article 15).
   3. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment (Article 16).
   4. Abolition of untouchability and prohibition of its practice (Article 17).
   5. Abolition of titles except military and academic (Article 18).

Additional Information

•  Right to Freedom (Articles 19 – 22)​- The Indian Constitution guarantees freedom to citizens. The freedom right includes many rights such as:
  • Freedom of speech
  • Freedom of expression
  • Freedom of assembly without arms
  • Freedom of association
  • Freedom to practise any profession 
  • Freedom to reside in any part of the country
• Right against Exploitation (Articles 23 – 24)- This right implies the prohibition of traffic in human beings, beggar, and other forms of forced labour. It also implies the prohibition of children in factories, etc. The Constitution prohibits the employment of children under 14 years in hazardous conditions.
• Right to Constitutional Remedies (32 – 35)- The Constitution guarantees remedies if citizens’ fundamental rights are violated. The government cannot infringe upon or curb anyone’s rights. When these rights are violated, the aggrieved party can approach the courts. Citizens can even go directly to the Supreme Court which can issue writs for enforcing fundamental rights.

The correct answer is November 2020.

• Lok Sabha has given its nod to Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2021.
• The bill contains provisions to deal with domestic and international arbitration.
• It defines the law for conducting conciliation proceedings.
• It replaces an Ordinance with the same provisions promulgated on 4th November 2020.

The correct answer is The Canadian System.

Key Points

• By vesting the residuary powers in the Union, the Indian Constitution has followed the Canadian System.
• The provisions of a Federation with a strong center, Residuary powers of the Centre, the appointment of State governors by the Centre, and the advisory jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, are all borrowed from the Canadian constitution.

Additional Information

Important borrowed features of the constitution:

The correct answer is N. K. Singh.

• N. K. Singh is the Chairman of the 15th Finance Commission.

Additional Information

• 15th Finance Commission
  • The Finance Commission (FC) is a constitutional body, that determines the method and formula for distributing the tax proceeds between the Centre and states, and among the states as per the constitutional arrangement and present requirements.
  • Under Article 280 of the Constitution, the President of India is required to constitute a Finance Commission at an interval of five years or earlier.
  • The 15th Finance Commission was constituted by the President of India, under the chairmanship of NK Singh.
  • Its recommendations will cover a period of five years from the year 2021-22 to 2025-26.
  • Grants Devolution Criteria
    • Population:
      • The population of a State represents the needs of the State to undertake expenditure for providing services to its residents.
      • It is also a simple and transparent indicator that has a significant equalising impact.
    • Area:
      • The larger the area, the greater is the expenditure requirement for providing comparable services.
    • Forest and Ecology:
      • By taking into account the share of the dense forest of each state in the aggregate dense forest of all the states, the share on these criteria is determined.
    • Income Distance:
      • Income distance is the distance of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of a particular state from the state with the highest GSDP.
      • To maintain interstate equity, the states with lower per capita income would be given a higher share.
    • Demographic Performance:
      • It rewards efforts made by states in controlling their population.
      • This criterion has been computed by using the reciprocal of the total fertility ratio of each state, scaled by 1971 population data.
    • Tax Effort:
      • This criterion has been used to reward states with higher tax collection efficiency.

The correct answer is (A) - (3), (B) - (4), (C) - (1), (D) - (2)

Key Points

• The Constitution (61st Amendment Act), 1989, reduced the voting age for Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly elections from 21 years to 18 years under Article 326.  
• Article 354 concerns the elections to the Lok Sabha and the Assemblies.
• The 42nd Amendment Act, 1976 was enacted from 25 June 1975 – 21 March 1977.
• 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act made two changes in the Preamble that is changed the characterization of India to "sovereign, socialist secular democratic republic" from "sovereign democratic republic.  
• It also changes the words ‘unity of the nation'  to ‘unity and integrity of the nation'.
• 38th Amendment Constitutional Amendment Act, officially known as The Constitution Act, 1975, made the declaration of The Emergency final and conclusive.
• The Constitution (44th Amendment Act), 1978 replaced the term ‘internal disturbance’ with the term ‘armed rebellion’ concerning the national emergency.
• 44th Amendment Act has made the President declare a national emergency only on the cabinet‘s written recommendation.
• 44th Amendment Act also guaranteed the fundamental rights during a national emergency by Articles 20 and 21 can not be suspended. 

Additional Information

• Under The Constitution (36th Amendment) Act, 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of the India Union.
• It also includes the omission of the 10th schedule.