Laxmikanth Test: Working of the Constitution- 1 - UPSC MCQ

As per Article 279A o f th e amended Constitution, GST Council which will be a joint forum of the Centre and the States. It shall have the following composition:
1. Union Finance Minister (Chairperson).
2. The Union Minister of State (MoS) in-charge of Revenue of finance (Member) The Minister In-charge of taxation or finance or any other Minister nominated by each State Government (Members) Functions of GST Council

• As per Article 279A (4), the Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on important issues related to GST, like
• Goods and services that inay be subjected or exempted from GST
• Model GST Laws
• Principles that govern place of supply, threshold limits
• GST rates including the floor rates with bands, special rates for raising additional resources during natural disastcra'calamities, special provisions for certain States, etc.

Statement 2: It is usually headed by a retired Supreme Court judge or former Chief Justice of a High Court.
Statement 3: It is constituted by the Union Government from time to time. The first commission was constituted in 1955, and since then, various commissions were re-constituted every three years.

Statement 1: The National Water Resources Council (NWRC) was set up by the Government of India in 1983. The Prime Minister is the Chairman and Union Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation is the Vice Chairman of the Council.

• The Union Minister of State for Water Resources, concerned Union Ministers/Ministers of State, and Chief Ministers of all States and Lieutenant Governors/Administrators of the Union Territories are the Members.

Statement 2: The draft National Water Policy (2012) was first considered by the National Water Resources Council (NWRC) for adoption. Thereafter, the National Water Policy was recommended to all States for implementation.

It was set up in 1997 to fulfil the obligations enunciated in the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

• It prohibits the development, production, execution, transfer, use and stockpiling o f all chemical weapons by member-states in a non- discriminatory manner.
• The Parliament in 2000 unacted (lit CWG Act which came into force m 2015 to give effect to the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention in India
• In accordance with the provisions of this Act, a high-level steering committee under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary with Secretary (Chemical and Petrochemicals), Foreign Secretary, Secretary, Defence Research and Development, Defence Secretary and Chairman, National Authority as its other members, oversees the functioning of the National Authority.
• The National Authority is responsible for implementation of the CWC Act, liaison with Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and Other State parties, fulfilling of declaration obligation, negotiating facility agreements etc.

Option a: All the NSAs appointed since the inception of the post belong to the Indian Foreign Service except M K Narayanan and the incumbent, Ajit Doval, who belong to the Indian Police Service, So, option a is incorrect.

• The National Security Advisor (NSA) is the chief executive of the National Security Council (NSC) and the primary advisor to the Prime Minister of India on national and international security.
• It is the National Security Advisor to whom intelligence agencies such as the Research and Analysis Wing and Intelligence Bureau report, rather than directly to (he Prime Minister.
• Due to such vested powers, NSA is a prominent and powerful oilice in tire bureaucracy.

He is appointed by the Prime Minister, not the Parliament. So, 1 is wrong.

• The National Security Adviser(NSA) is tasked with regularly advising the Prime Minister on all matters relating to internal and external threats to the country, and overseas strategic issues,
• The NSA of India also serves as the Prime Minister's Special Interlocutor on border issues with China and frequently accompanies the Prime Minister on Foreign State visits.
• Brajesh Mishra was appointed the first National Security Adviser of India. The post was created in 1998 by the Government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Nuclear retaliatory attacks can only be authorized by the civilian political leadership through the Nuclear Command Authority. The Nuclear Command Authority comprises a Political Council end at1 the executive Council. It provides inputs for decision-making by the Nuclear Command Authority and executes the directives given to it by the Political Council.

• The SFC is a specially raised missile-handling unit of the Indian Army. It forms part of India's Nuclear Command Authority (NCA)
• It was created in 2003, by an executive order of Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
• It is responsible for the management and administration of the country’s tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile.
• It is headed by a Commander-in-Chief of the rank of Air Marshal. So, option d is wrong
• It is out of the RTI-ambit to ensure national security.

• The Mission of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) is to ensure the use of ionizing radiation and nuclear energy in India does not cause undue risk to the health of people and the environment.
• it was established m 1983 by (lie President of India, The AERB is supported in its functions by a number of committees. Members of all the A ERB committees are recognized experts with long experience in the relevant fields. The regulator)' authority of AERB is derived from the rules and notifications promulgated under the Atomic Energy Act 1962 and the Environmental (Protection) Act 1986.

The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was set up in 1948 to look after atomic energy activities In the country. The functions of the Atomic Energy Commission are:

• to organise research in atomic scientists In the country;
• to train atomic scientists in the country;
• to promote nuclear research in commission’s own laboratories as well as in India; and
• to undertake prospecting of atomic minerals in India and to extract such minerals for use on industrial scale.

The Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Atomic Energy is ex officio Chairman of the Commission. The other Members of the AEC are appointed for each calendar year on the recommendation o f the Chairman, ABC and after approval by the Prime Minster,