QUIZ – 2016: Insights Current Affairs Quiz, 5 December 2016

Solution: a.

The CEC said (Click HERE), “We feel that there should be well defined electoral laws rather than using residuary powers under Art 324 frequently. Of course ECI will not hesitate to invoke Art 324 in the  interest of purity of election.”

• Earlier this year, the EC, in an unprecedented step, was forced to cancel elections to two Tamil Nadu Assembly seats on the ground of voters being bribed with money during the recent campaign. The poll watchdog had to resort to Article 324 of the Constitution, which is the source of its extraordinary powers, to cancel elections in the two seats.
• Section 58A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, empowers the poll watchdog to adjourn or cancel elections on the ground of booth-capturing. Section 58A was introduced in the 1980s when booth-capturing was rampant during elections in many parts of the country.

Solution: c.

• Keeping in view the fact that the existing Act of 1995 is not fully in conformity with the UNCRPD, a need was felt to have a rights-based legislation with a strong institutional mechanism.
• The Bill replaces the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. Instead of seven disabilities specified in the Act, the Bill covers 21 conditions.
• Persons with at least 40% of a disability (person with “benchmark disability”) are entitled to certain benefits such as reservations in education and employment, preference in government schemes, etc.
• The Bill confers several rights and entitlements to disabled persons. These include disabled friendly access to all public buildings, hospitals, modes of transport, polling stations, etc.
• Speech and Language Disability and Specific Learning Disability have been added for the first time. Acid Attack Victims have been included. Dwarfism, muscular dystrophy have has been indicated as separate class of specified disability. The New categories of disabilities also included three blood disorders, Thalassemia, Hemophilia and Sickle Cell disease.
• The Bill provides for penalties for offences committed against PwDs. Designated special Courts have been proposed to handle cases concerning violation of rights of PwDs.
• Every child with benchmark disability between the age group of 6 and 18 years shall have the right to free education.
• It has been proposed to increase reservation from 3% to 4% in Government jobs for certain persons or class of persons with benchmark disability.
• Designated special Courts have been proposed to handle cases concerning violation of rights of PwDs.

http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=154862

—

Solution: a.

• Issue of State Subject: The Bill is being brought in to fulfil obligations under an international treaty. The question is whether it is appropriate for Parliament to impose legal and financial obligations on states and municipalities with regard to disability, which is a State List subject (#9 under state list; Click HERE).
• Estimates of Financial Resources required: The Financial Memorandum does not provide any estimate of the financial resources required to meet obligations under the Bill.
• Violation of provisions: The Bill states that violation of any provision in the Act will attract imprisonment and/or fine. Given the widespread obligations (such as making all polling booths accessible to the disabled), many acts of omission or commission could be interpreted as criminal offences.
• “Extraordinary situations”: In “extraordinary situations” district courts may appoint plenary guardians for mentally ill persons. The issue, however, is that the Bill does not lay down principles for such determination, in a consistent manner, across various courts. The Bill overrides the Mental Health Act, 1987 but the safeguards against misuse of powers by guardians are lower.
• Inconsistency with other laws: The Bill is inconsistent with other laws in some cases. These include conditions for termination of pregnancy and the minimum penalty for outraging the modesty of a woman.

Primary Source: PRS Legislative Brief;

—

Improvisation: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=154862

—

Solution: d.

The five circumstances under which the Parliament can pass laws on subjects in the state list are:

1. When Rajya Sabha passes a resolution to that effect by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting.
2. During President’s rule.
3. To implement a law in consonance with India’s obligations to international treaties, conventions or agreements.
4. When two or more states pass resolutions in their assemblies to that effect. In such a situation, the law passed by the parliament is valid only for the states that have passed the resolution. Any other state may also implement the same law, if its assembly passes a resolution to that effect.
5. During a national emergency.

Chapter 14, Indian Polity 4^th Edition by M Laxmikanth;

Improvisation: Issue #1 as highlighted in PRS Legislative Brief;

Solution: d.

Certain stats:

• ‘Migrant’: The present study considers migrants by place of last residence — those who have last resided at a place other than their place of enumeration are deemed to be migrants. The study, however, does not point out whether these are interstate or intrastate migrants.
• The total number of migrants in India rose by 44 percent taking 2001 as the base year.
• Every third citizen: With 45.36 crore migrants in India, every third citizen of the country is a migrant.
• Women: Of these, 69 per cent are women, majority of whom have cited marriage or having migrated with their husbands as the reason for their translocation.
• The Census data shows that Indian women are also migrating for work and education (economic migrants). The number of Indian women who are economic migrants has grown by 129 per cent.
• Marriage: While globally, migration is attempt by people to survive and prosper, in India, marriage appears to be the biggest reason why people migrate. 69 per cent people referred to marriage being the reason for their migration.
• Economic: Only 11.17 per cent of the migrants termed work and business as causes.

Growth in migrant population (in absolute numbers) over the past decade has been greater in the Southern States than elsewhere in the country. Why?

• The socio-economic development of the southern states is considerably higher and that attracts people.
• Another factor is that because of better education levels and awareness, local residents of these areas get drawn towards better economic opportunities. This vacuum that gets created gets filled up by people from outside. These developed areas face a crisis of manpower, especially for low-skilled jobs, which leads to migration.

http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/tamil-nadu-kerala-daily-wages-migrant-population-4410694/

—

Solution: b.

A GK question. Helpful for the main examination where you can cite this issue as an example either in essays or society-based questions, etc.

• Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim nation. About 90% of their population is Muslim (approximately 220 million).
• Purnama, the governor of Jakarta, is an ethnic Chinese and the first Christian to be elected to the post in 50 years.
• Ethnic Chinese make up just over 1 per cent of Indonesia’s population but have tended to wield economic clout beyond their numbers, which has often led to resentment.
• Detractors of Purnama argue that the Quran prohibits Muslims from having non-Muslim leaders. The Governor got into trouble as he used a quote from the Quran in his speech to criticise his detractors.

“After hardline protests, push for plurality in India”, Explained Page, Indian Express, 5^th December 2016;

Solution: c.

Question framed with a mains perspective. This ‘The Hindu’ article discusses well, the “unintended fusion of Sagarmala initiative, and Beijing’s Maritime Silk Road (MSR)”.

• A Chinese list of ports that are set for major expansion under the MSR initiative are already connected directly to the Krishnapatnam port on a weekly basis. Krishnapatnam and Machilipatnam ports are a part of the Sagarmala initiative, which is an initiative to have a string of world-class ports, enmeshed with well-connected industrial clusters in the hinterland.
• Though not on the coastline, its integration in a nation-wide rail and road network positions Changsha (Hunan Province’s capital) prominently as one of the pivots of both the MSR, as well as the New Silk Road land corridor, which extends westwards into Central Asia and Europe. The city has high speed rail connectivity with the ports of Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It is also the starting point of trains heading out to Duisburg in Germany.
• From the perspective of India, impatient to modernise its archaic railway system, Hunan’s status as the manufacturer of both high-speed and Maglev trains has been a big draw.
• The growing maritime ties between India and China are adding a new dimension to New Delhi’s Act East Policy of actively engaging countries along, and beyond, the Bay of Bengal. A paper on Andhra Pradesh port policy by the National Maritime Foundation lauds the State for its capacity to “see merit in Centre’s Sagarmala vision; and opportunities in foreign policy initiatives like Act East Policy”.
• Officials in Changsha are also keen to revive cultural ties, with Buddhism — the shared heritage of India and China — as the foundation.

—