UPSC: Indian Polity NCERT Based Test- 2 - UPSC MCQ

Three factors are crucial in deciding the outcome of politics of social divisions.

1. First of all the outcome depends on how people perceive their identities. If people see their identities in singular and exclusive terms, it becomes very difficult to accommodate. It is much easier if the people see that their identities are multiple and are complementary with the national identity.
2. Second, it depends on how political leaders raise the demands of any community. It is easier to accommodate demands that are within the constitutional framework and are not at the cost of another community. For example the demand for ‘only Sinhala’ was at the cost of the interest and identity of the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.
3. Third, it depends on how the government reacts to demands of different groups. if the rulers are willing to share power and accommodate the reasonable demands of minority communities, social divisions become less threatening for the country. But if they try to suppress such a demand in the name of national unity, the end result is often quite the opposite. Such attempts at forced integration often sow the seeds of disintegration.

• Values that inspired and guided the freedom struggle and were in turn nurtured by it, formed the foundation for India’s democracy. These values are embedded in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
• The Constitution begins with a short statement of its basic values. This is called the Preamble to the constitution. Taking inspiration from American model, most countries in the contemporary world have chosen to begin their constitutions with a preamble.
• The Preamble of the Constitution reads like a poem on democracy. It contains the philosophy on which the entire Constitution has been built. It provides a standard to examine and evaluate any law and action of government, to find out whether it is good or bad. It is the soul of the Indian Constitution.

The idea of a New Inter - national Economic Order (NIEO) originated with this realisation. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) brought out a report in 1972 entitled Towards a New Trade Policy for Development. The report proposed a reform of the global trading system so as to:

• give the LDCs control over their natural resources exploited by the developed Western countries,
• obtain access to Western markets so that the LDCs could sell their products and, therefore, make trade more beneficial for the poorer countries,
• reduce the cost of technology from the Western countries, and
• provide the LDCs with a greater role in international economic institutions.

Gradually, the nature of nonalignment changed to give greater importance to economic issues. In 1961, at the first summit in Belgrade, economic issues had not been very important. By the mid-1970s, they had become the most important issues. As a result, NAM became an economic pressure group. By the late 1980s, however, the NIEO initiative had faded, mainly because of the stiff opposition from the developed countries who acted as a united group while the non-aligned countries struggled to maintain their unity in the face of this opposition.

• Poverty in the South has also led to large-scale migration to seek a better life, especially better economic opportunities, in the North. This has created international political friction. International law and norms make a distinction between migrants (those who voluntarily leave their home countries) and refugees (those who flee from war, natural disaster or political persecution).
• States are generally supposed to accept refugees, but they do not have to accept migrants. While refugees leave their country of origin, people who have fled their homes but remain within national borders are called ‘internally displaced people’. Kashmiri Pandits that fled the violence in the Kashmir Valley in the early 1990s are an example of an internally displaced community

Power of Judicial Review -

1. Judicial review means to check the constitutional validity of legislative enactments and executive orders of both the Central and state governments.

2. It is essential for protecting fundamental rights of the citizens.

3. It is also needed to maintain a balance between Union and States.

4. Judicial review helps in upholding the principle of the supremacy of the Constitution.

5. However, the phrase ‘judicial review’ has not been used anywhere in the Constitution.

One can challenge the constitutionality of a legislative enactment or an executive order in Supreme Court if -

1. Fundamental Rights are infringed by it.

2. It is incompatible with constitutional provisions.

3. It is outside the ambit of the authority which framed it.

a. Scope of Judicial review in the USA is broader than that in India.

b. Our Supreme Court follows procedure established by law.

c. This means that they see only substantive questions i.e., if the law is within the powers of the authority concerned or not.

d. It does not check the reasonableness of the law.

e. American Supreme Court follows due process of law that checks substantive questions as well as reasonableness of the law.

Other Powers of Supreme Court -

1. It is the final authority for disputes regarding the election of the president and the Vice-President.

2. On reference made by the President, it enquires into the conduct of the chairman and members of the UPSC and gives advice which is binding on the President.

3. It can review its own judgement or order.

4. It can withdraw cases pending before the high courts and dispose of them by itself. It can also transfer a case or appeal which is pending before one high court to another high court.

5. Its law is binding on all courts in India and decree or order is enforceable throughout India.

6. It is the ultimate interpreter of the Constitution.

7. It has judicial superintendence and control over all the courts and tribunals in India.

8. Parliament can enlarge the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction and powers with respect to matters in the Union list.

9. Also, a special agreement of the Centre and the states can enlarge its jurisdiction and powers with respect to other matters.

• The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 has been enacted to provide for the establishment of the Gram Nyayalayas at the grass roots level for the purposes of providing access to justice to the citizens at their doorsteps and to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen due to social, economic or other disabilities.
• The presiding officer (Nyayadhikari) shall be appointed by the State Government in consultation with the High Court. The Gram Nyayalaya shall be a mobile court and shall exercise the powers of both Criminal and Civil Courts.
• The Gram Nyayalaya shall try to settle the disputes as far as possible by bringing about conciliation between the parties and for this purpose, it shall make use of the conciliators to be appointed for this purpose.

Mahatma Gandhi was not a member of the Constituent Assembly. Yet there were many members who followed his vision. While writing in his magazine Young India in 1931, he had spelt out what he wanted the Constitution to do.

PAHAL (DBTL) Scheme: LPG in India is provided at subsidized rates, ensuring that people can afford it. The typical subsidy amount ranges between Rs.160 and Rs.170 per cylinder, helping people save a considerable sum each year.

• In January 1988, around twenty thousand farmers had gathered in the city of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. They were protesting against the government decision to increase electricity rates.
• The farmers camped for about three weeks outside the district collector’s office until their demands were fulfilled. It was a very disciplined agitation of the farmers and all those days they received regular food supply from the nearby villages.
• The Meerut agitation was seen as a great show of rural power – power of farmer cultivators. These agitating farmers were members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), an organisation of farmers from western Uttar Pradesh and Haryana regions.

• As far back as in 1928, Motilal Nehru and eight other Congress leaders drafted a constitution for India. In 1931, the resolution at the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress dwelt on how independent India’s constitution should look like.
• Both these documents were committed to the inclusion of universal adult franchise, right to freedom and equality and to protecting the rights of minorities in the constitution of independent India.

Appointing Chief Justice of India -

1. Senior-most judge of the Supreme Court used to be the Chief Justice of India from 1950 to 1973.

Qualifications of Judges - A person shall not be qualified for appointment as a Judge of the Supreme Court unless -

1. he is a citizen of India;

2. has been for at least five years a Judge of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession; or

3. has been for at least ten years an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession; or

4. is, in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist. there is no prescribed minimum age for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court.

• There are essential facilities that need to be provided for everyone, for example healthcare and sanitation.Similarly, there are things like electricity, public transport, schools and colleges that are also necessary.
• These are known as public facilities. The important characteristic of a public facility is that once it is provided, its benefits can be shared by many people. For instance, a school in the village will enable many children to get educated. One of the most important functions of the government is to ensure that these public facilities are made available to everyone.

Nagaland, Meghalaya & Mizoram there are no any Panchayati Raj as because they exempted under Article 243M(2) and also enjoying Special Constitutional Provision under Article 371A, 371B, 371C,371F,371G,371H by the Constitution of India.

Rights against exploitation: Article 20-22

From the late 1950s, people speaking the Punjabi language started agitating for a separate State for themselves. This demand was finally accepted and the States of Punjab and Haryana were created in 1966. Later, the States of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand were created. Thus the challenge of diversity was met by redrawing the internal boundaries of the country.

• By the early nineteen seventies, the first generation Dalit graduates, especially those living in city slums began to assert themselves from various platforms.
• Dalit Panthers, a militant organisation of the Dalit youth, was formed in Maharashtra in 1972 as a part of these assertions. In the post-independence period, Dalit groups were mainly fighting against the perpetual caste based inequalities and material injustices that the Dalits faced in spite of constitutional guarantees of equality and justice.
• Effective implementation of reservations and other such policies of social justice was one of their prominent demands.

• However, non- alignment contained some core values and enduring ideas. It was based on a recognition that decolonised states share a historical affiliation and can become a powerful force if they come together.
• It meant that the poor and often very small countries of the world need not become followers of any of the big powers, that they could pursue an independent foreign policy. It was also based on a resolve to democratise the international system by thinking about an alternative world order to redress existing inequities. These core ideas remain relevant even after the Cold War has ended.

Vernacular Press Act, 1878 was constituted for ‘better control’ of the vernacular press and effectively punished and repressed seditious writing. The provisions of the Act are given below:

(A) The district magistrate was empowered to call upon the printer and publisher of any vernacular newspaper to enter into a bond with the Government undertaking not to cause disaffection against the government or antipathy between persons of different religions, caste, race through published material; the printer and publisher could also be required to deposit security which could be seized if the offences reoccurred.

(B) The magistrate’s action was final and no appeal could be made in a court of law.

(C) A vernacular newspaper could get an exemption from the operation of the Act by submitting proof to a government censor.

The Indian constitution provides for a provision of the Supreme Court under Part V (The Union) and Chapter 6 (The Union Judiciary). Articles 124 to 147 in Part V of the Constitution deal with the organisation, independence, jurisdiction, powers and procedures of the Supreme Court.

1. 1. Seniority at the apex court is determined not by age
   • The date a judge was appointed to the Supreme Court.
   • If two judges are elevated to the Supreme Court on the same day:
   • The one who was sworn in first as a judge would trump another.
   • If both were sworn in as judges on the same day, the one with more years of high court service would ‘win’ in the seniority stakes.
   • An appointment from the bench would ‘trump’ in seniority an appointee from the bar.
2. The Constitution declares Delhi as the seat of the Supreme Court. It also authorises the CJI to appoint other places (not parliament) or places as seats of the Supreme Court.
3. Appointment of Chief Justice From 1950 to 1973:
   The practice has been to appoint the senior most judge of the Supreme Court as the chief justice of India. This established convention was violated in 1973 when A N Ray was appointed as the Chief Justice of India by superseding three senior judges. Again in 1977, M U Beg was appointed as the chief justice of India by superseding the then senior-most judge.
4. Collegium system was born through “three judges case” and it has been in practice since 1998. It is used for appointments and transfers of judges in High courts and Supreme Courts. There is no mention of the Collegium either in the original Constitution of India or in successive amendments.

• An alliance is a coalition of states that coordinate their actions to deter or defend against military attack.
• Most alliances are formalised in written treaties and are based on a fairly clear identification of who constitutes the threat. Countries form alliances to increase their effective power relative to another country or alliance. Alliances are based on national interests and can change when national interests change.

• Article 171 of the constitution of India defines the composition of the councils. The strength of any council shall not exceed 1/3rd of the strength of the state assembly. But for smaller states, the minimum strength of the council can be forty (40).
• The members of the Legislative Councils comprise people elected through five different constituencies.
• One third (1/3rd) of the members are elected by representatives of the Local Authorities (like Municipalities, Zilla Parishads, Block Parishads etc) One third (1/3rd) of the members are elected by members of the Legislative Assembly (the same person can’t be a member of both the houses) One-twelfth (1/12th) of the members are elected by the Graduates in the state One-twelfth (1/12th) of the members are elected by the Teachers in the state The remaining members are nominated by the Governor.
• Those nominated by the Governor should have special knowledge or practical experience in Literature, science, art, co-operative movement and social service.

• The drafting of the document called the constitution was done by an assembly of elected representatives called the Constituent Assembly. Elections to the Constituent Assembly were held in July 1946.
• Its first meeting was held in December 1946.Soon after, the country was divided into India and Pakistan. The Constituent Assembly was also divided into the Constituent Assembly of India and that of Pakistan.The Constituent Assembly that wrote the Indian constitution had 299 members.
• The Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949 but it came into effect on 26 January 1950. To mark this day we celebrate January 26 as Republic Day every year.

• In 1997, the Supreme Court passed a landmark judgment in the same Vishaka case laying down guidelines to be followed by establishments in dealing with complaints about sexual harassment.
• "Vishaka Guidelines" were stipulated by the Supreme Court of India, in Vishaka and others v State of Rajasthan case in 1997, regarding sexual harassment at workplace. The court stated that these guidelines were to be implemented until legislation is passed to deal with the issue.
• The court decided that the consideration of "International Conventions and norms are significant for the purpose of interpretation of the guarantee of gender equality, right to work with human dignity in Articles 14, 15 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution and the safeguards against sexual harassment implicit therein."

While a proclamation of Emergency is in force, the normal fabric of the Centre–state relations undergoes a basic change. This can be studied under three sections, executive, legislative and financial.

A. Executive -

1. During a national emergency, the executive power of the Centre extends to directing any state regarding the manner in which its executive power is to be exercised.

2. In normal times, the Centre can give executive directions to a state only on certain specified matters.

3. However, during a national emergency, the Centre becomes entitled to give executive directions to a state on ‘any’ matter.

4. Thus, the state governments are brought under the complete control of the Centre, though they are not suspended.

B. Legislative -

1. During a national emergency, the Parliament becomes empowered to make laws on any subject mentioned in the State List.

2. Although the legislative power of a state legislature is not suspended, it becomes subject to the overriding power of the Parliament.

3. Thus, the normal distribution of the legislative powers between the Centre and states is suspended, though the state Legislatures are not suspended.

C. Financial -

1. While a proclamation of national emergency is in operation, the President can modify the constitutional distribution of revenues between the centre and the states.

2. This means that the president can either reduce or cancel the transfer of finances from Centre to the states.

3. Such modification continues till the end of the financial year in which the Emergency ceases to operate.

4. Also, every such order of the President has to be laid before both the Houses of Parliament.

Khabar Lahriya is a fortnightly that is run by eight Dalit women in Chitrakoot district in Uttar Pradesh. Written in the local language, Bundeli, this eight-page newspaper reports on Dalit issues and cases of violence against women and political corruption. This newspaper was also selected for the 2009 UNESCO Literacy Award.

A federal government is a system of government that divides the power between a larger central government, and the local and regional governments beneath it.

• Every social difference does not lead to social division. Social differences divide similar people from one another, but they also unite very different people.
• People belonging to different social groups share differences and similarities cutting across the boundaries of their groups.
• It is fairly common for people belonging to the same religion to feel that they do not belong to the same community, because their caste or sect is very different.
• It is also possible for people from different religions to have the same caste and feel close to each other.
• Rich and poor persons from the same family often do not keep close relations with each other because they feel they are very different. Thus, we all have more than one identity and can belong to more than one social group.

Rigid constitution and Bicameral legislature are among the federal features of the Indian constitution.

• The central government passed the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
• The introduction to the final Act states that this Act is meant to undo the historical injustices meted out to forest dwelling populations in not recognising their rights to land and resources.
• This Act recognises their right to homestead, cultivable and grazing land and to non-timber forest produce. The Act also points out that the rights of forest dwellers includes conservation of forests and biodiversity.

• The security challenges facing the newly-independent countries of Asia and Africa were different from the challenges in Europe in two ways. For one thing, the new countries faced the prospect of military conflict with neighbouring countries. For another, they had to worry about internal military conflict.
• These countries faced threats not only from outside their borders, mostly from neighbours, but also from within. Many newly independent countries came to fear their neighbours even more than they feared the US or Soviet Union or the former colonial powers. They quarrelled over borders and territories or control of people and populations or all of these simultaneously.