Question Discussion & Solution

The correct answer is September 2020.

• Rajya Sabha passed the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020 on 10 February 2021.
• The Lok Sabha had passed the bill on September 23, 2020.
• The Bill aims to provide for the regulation, operation and planning of Major Ports in India and to vest the administration, control and management of such ports upon the Boards of Major Port Authorities.

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.

The correct answer is Not less than 45.

• Establishment of Lokpal
  • The Lokpal shall consist of
    (a) a Chairperson, who is or has been a Chief Justice of India or is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court or an eminent person who fulfills the eligibility specified in clause (b) of sub-section (3); and
    (b) such number of Members, not exceeding eight out of whom fifty percent. shall be Judicial Members: Provided that not less than fifty percent. of the Members of the Lokpal shall be from amongst the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Minorities and women.
  • A person shall be eligible to be appointed —
    (a) as a Judicial Member if he is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court or is or has been a Chief Justice of a High Court;
    (b) as a Member other than a Judicial Member, if he is a person of impeccable integrity and outstanding ability having special knowledge and expertise of not less than twenty-five years in the matters relating to anti-corruption policy, public administration, vigilance, finance including insurance and banking, law and management.
  • The Chairperson or a Member shall not be
    (i) a member of Parliament or a member of the Legislature of any State or Union territory;
    (ii) a person convicted of any offence involving moral turptitude;
    (iii) a person of less than forty-five years of age, on the date of assuming office as the Chairperson or Member, as the case may be;
    (iv) a member of any Panchayat or Municipality;
    (v) a person who has been removed or dismissed from the service of the Union or a State, and shall not hold any office of trust or profit (other than his office as the Chairperson or a Member) or be affiliated with any political party or carry on any business or practise any profession and, accordingly, before he enters upon his office, a person appointed as the Chairperson or a Member, as the case may be, shall, if—
    (a) he holds any office of trust or profit, resign from such office; or
    (b) he is carrying on any business, sever his connection with the conduct and management of such
    business; or
    (c) he is practising any profession, cease to practise such profession.

The correct answer is option 1 i.e. Minorities can establish and administer educational institutions of their choice

• Article 30 secures religious and linguistic minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions.
• Only religious and linguistic minorities find mention in Article 30 not ethnic. Hence, both Options 2 and 3 are NOT correct.
• Article 30 also states that any State shall not, in granting aid to educational institutions, discriminate against any educational institution on the ground that it is under the management of a minority, whether based on religion or language. Hence, Option 4 is NOT correct.

The correct answer is directly elected by the people.

Key Points

• Panchayat Samiti:
  • Panchayat Samiti is a rural local government (panchayat) body at the intermediate tehsil (taluka/Mandal) level in India.
  • It works for the villages of the tehsil that together are called a development block.
  • The members of the Panchayat Samiti are elected directly elected by the people.
  • Panchayat Samiti is related to Article 243(c) of the Indian Constitution.
  • According to  Article 243(c) - “intermediate level” means a level between the village and district levels specified by the Governor of a State by public notification to be the intermediate level for the purposes of this Part
  • It has been said to be the "panchayat of panchayats".
  • The 73rd Amendment defines the levels of Panchayati raj institution as:
    • District (or apex) level
    • Intermediate level
    • Base level
  • The Panchayat Samiti is the link between the gram panchayat (village council) and the Zila Parishad (district board).
  • The name varies across states: Mandal Parishad in Andhra Pradesh, taluka panchayat in Gujarat, and Mandal panchayat in Karnataka.

Additional Information

• The most common departments found in a panchayat Samiti are:
  • Administration
  • Finance
  • Public works (especially water and roads)
  • Agriculture
  • Health
• Each department in a panchayat Samiti has its own officer.
• Most often these are state government employees acting as extension officers, but occasionally in more revenue-rich panchayat Samiti, they may be local employees.
• A government-appointed block development officer (BDO) is the supervisor of the extension officers and executive officer to the panchayat Samiti and becomes, in effect, its administrative chief.
• The panchayat Samiti collects all the prospective plans prepared at the Gram Panchayat level and processes them for funding and implementation by evaluating them from the angles of financial constraints, social welfare, and area development.
• It also identifies and prioritizes the issues that should be addressed at the block level.